


blazing torches of the empyrean

by oneirataxxia



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Attempted Rape/Non-Con (not between main pairing), Explicit Sexual Content, Jealous Tsukishima Kei, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Pining Tsukishima Kei, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:13:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 33,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24885136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneirataxxia/pseuds/oneirataxxia
Summary: Tsukishima Kei has always been aware of three things: one, that he was an alpha, two, that Yamaguchi Tadashi was unpresented, and three, that he was in love with his best friend.He thought life would stay the same forever; him yearning after Tadashi, stuck in a limbo of to confess or not to confess, living slowly and carefully and unremarkably.But in mid-April, Tadashi suddenly presents, and Kei realizes he must finally face the tribulations of growing up or risk losing Tadashi forever.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 65
Kudos: 413





	1. spring wind whistles through the hollows of my heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, again! i'm back with a tsukkiyama a/b/o, as promised. just a fair warning, if you don't like smut, maybe this isn't the best work for you because it gets pretty harcore. i'm excited for this fic, and thank you so much for giving it a try. i hope you enjoy!
> 
> [chapter warning(s): adult language, masturbation*]  
> *if you want to skip the smut, ctrl+f and stop at "As everything slowly comes into focus," and pick back up at "'Tsukki! Tsukki!'"

Pale moonlight filters through the drawstring blinds that gently creak against the half-opened window, allowing the scent of mid-spring and mountain air to seep into the room. Watery and silver, the light leaks through the thin, pulled-cotton clouds that streak the night sky. It illuminates the dust mites, spinning in response to the draft, that twirl high overhead, chasing each other to the top of the beige ceiling and the wooden fan and the high, dark, mahogany shelves. Entranced, Tsukishima Kei raises a hand as if to join the swirling particles in their dance to the pinnacle.

His back aches as he rolls over to his side. Apparently, he had slept on his arm funny, because it’s numb and tingling, his fingers twitching as his arteries pump blood back into the oxygen-starved limb. Squinting, Kei barely manages to read his wristwatch, its glass face reflecting the wan moon’s light.  _ 02:48 a.m.  _ blinks in bright red, and Kei sighs and rolls onto his side. Brown eyes catch on the window, and the white moon beckons him outside. He can hear Yamaguchi Tadashi’s soft breathing, fluttery and painfully familiar as the rustling of sheets against his ear.

Kei turns his head and studies the mound on the bed next to him. Of course, Tadashi had asked Kei to sleep up there with him, but he had profusely refused, cheeks tinged pink. That was something couples and lovers did; the innocent gesture felt far too intimate for him, even though they had been best friends for a long, long time. 

And Kei didn’t want to tempt himself with something he knows he’ll never have.

But, still. The offer had warmed him, the thought of waking up with Tadashi in his arms enough to set off a pang and feel the deep, familiar ache burn through his chest.

Tadashi’s room is thick with his owner’s scent, warm and musty, clinging to the walls and the floors and even to the futon Kei is sleeping on. It is Tadashi’s natural body odor, belonging to his primary, unpresented gender. When his second gender appears, its scent would completely mask the first. Kei’s alpha nose is sensitive, and particularly so to what he thinks are pheromones. Although Tadashi’s scent is hardly what he could consider to be a pheromone, he’s strangely attentive to it. Maybe it’s because they’ve been around each other for almost all of their lives.

Kei has known him for what seems like forever. He can barely remember what life was like before Tadashi. Ever since saving the freckled boy from his perpetual taunters, Kei’s monochrome life had been thrust into a world full of color, Tadashi, the artist. Over time, their relationship had evolved from awkward acquaintances to casual friends, and then all of the sudden it seems like Kei can’t go a day without hearing Tadashi’s annoyingly bright voice or he’d start tearing up his wallpaper. He doesn’t understand why he is so attached to the other teen, but Kei finds he’s okay with it. Tadashi makes him feel whole.

He glances at his clock again.  _ 03:11 a.m _ . 

Letting out a huff of air, Kei rolls onto his back, eyes squinting as the blurry ceiling fan shimmers between varying degrees of clarity. He can feel himself drifting away, his brain quieting down in preparation for sleep. 

But as he’s about to fall off the precipice, a soft whimpering snaps him back up.

Kei opens his eyes and frowns, turning his head towards Tadashi. The younger has started to shift around in his blanket cocoon, making little distressed noises. Kei had been to enough sleepovers to know what they meant.

He pushes himself out of his futon as Tadashi lets out a soft cry, and he kicks out a leg, starting to thrash and tangle his sheets. Kei staggers over and grabs Tadashi’s shoulders, dragging the smaller boy closer.

“Yamaguchi!” Kei whisper-shouts, shaking him roughly, “Wake up! Yamaguchi!”

Tadashi twitches beneath him and let out a panicked yelp before his eyes fly open and he latches onto Kei. 

“T-Tsu-Tsukki,” he sobs, burying his face into Kei’s chest.

Kei sighs and wilts in Tadashi’s grip, hanging his head to breathe in Tadashi’s familiar scent. He stills for a moment, Tadashi quivering in his grip, the sound of the soft hissing of Tadashi’s curtains as they flutter permeating the quiet night air. Scooting onto Tadashi’s bed and curling the other against him, Kei cups the back of Tadashi’s head soothingly, running his fingers through the soft strands as the younger sniffles into the crook of his neck. Kei winces at the wetness pressed against his skin, but like every other time, he lets Tadashi cry it out.

After a few minutes, Tadashi begins to quiet down, letting out the occasional hiccup, and Kei rests his chin on the top of the other boy’s head.

“Do you remember what happened?” he whispers into the brown locks.

“N-No,” Tadashi sniffs, “Not really.”

“It wasn’t real,” Kei reminds him.

“I’m not stupid, I know it’s not real when I wake up,” Tadashi murmurs, “But I don’t know that when I’m asleep.”

Kei resumes stroking Tadashi’s hair. 

“Go to sleep, Yamaguchi,” he whispers.

Tadashi makes a small noise and buries his face further into Kei’s neck. Kei tenses up, and then relaxes, shivering slightly as the cool breeze from the window lifts up the back of his shirt. He feels himself releasing calming pheromones, even though he knows they would have no effect on Tadashi. But he feels Tadashi relax against him all the same, and Kei gives in, closing his eyes. Sleep was pulling him down into its dark depths, and he didn’t have the strength to fight back.

  
  


When Kei wakes up, it’s the break of dawn. Pale pink rays filter past the blinds, bathing everything in a soft, rosy glow. Tadashi is breathing softly beside him, chest rising and falling slowly with every cycle. He’s tucked innocently into Kei’s side, head burrowed in his chest. His hair is a complete rat’s nest. Kei notices that he has an arm draped protectively around Tadashi.

And he lays there, basking in the glory of dawn, the world slowly revealing itself, peeling away like layers of an onion to reveal the green baby shoots in the center. As everything slowly comes into focus, Kei starts to notice an uncomfortable heat in his lower abdomen. 

_ Fuck.  _

Of all the times to have morning wood.

_ This is fantastic. _

He could just go to sleep and hope the problem resolves himself, but there’s no guarantee his boner will go down, and if it doesn’t, he’d arise to face the same problem, but Tadashi and his mom would  _ both _ be awake, and the problem would be a hundred times worse.

_ I could jack off now, in his bathroom. _

Kei is hit with a nauseating wave of self-repulsion.

_ No, no way. That’s disgusting and perverted. And what if Yamaguchi or his mom walks in on me? I’ll probably never be allowed back, and I don’t think Yamaguchi would ever look at me the same. I’d probably rather die. _

Kei’s dick is starting to hurt, straining against the fabric of his sweatpants.

_ This really fucking sucks. _

He knows it’s a terrible idea, but with waves of lust clouding his mind, he can’t think of anything better. Kei slowly disentangles himself from Tadashi, already regretting every second of what he’s about to do.

He quietly slips into the en-suite bathroom and slides the shoji door shut, praying to every god imaginable that he doesn’t get caught. He’s lucky that Tadashi’s unpresented, and his mom’s a beta and often absent from the household altogether. They probably won’t be able to detect any lingering scents if he opens the window and cleans after himself properly.

Trembling slightly now, Kei sits down on the toilet and pulls down his sweatpants. His dick bobs up, red and stiff, and Kei looks at it in disgust. 

It’s not that he doesn’t jerk it like everyone else once in a while, it’s just that this is  _ Tadashi’s _ house, which is basically sacred ground, and it feels so wrong and disgusting to do it here.

_ Let’s just get this over with. _

With a few fingers, he smudges the pre-cum beading at the tip and smears it down his shaft, clamping the other hand to his mouth to stifle his heavy breathing. He sets a slow pace, working his hand from the base to his tip, shivering slightly. He increases the pressure, squeezing his cock, clenching his teeth and trying not to moan. 

Every stroke feels so sensitive against his dick, and he’s not sure if it’s because he’s so aroused or the fact that if he gets caught it will be all over for him.

He works his hand up his shaft, the fluid making the movement easier. He massages his fingers over the head of his dick and suddenly his fingers become Tadashi’s lips, and Tadashi is between his legs.

Kei moans through his fingers and then stops, mid-stroke, in horror. He waits a tense few seconds, but there is no sound from Tadashi’s bedroom.

_ It’s too late to turn back now. _

He picks up the pace, and once again, his mind turns to Tadashi. He imagines the brunette sucking him off, the tip of Kei’s cock being swallowed up by Tadashi’s pink lips, its head hitting the back of Tadashi’s soft throat. He represses a moan as he starts thrusting into his fist.

In, out. In, out. He feels pleasure coursing through his veins as he imagines Tadashi’s eyes rolling up into the back of his skull as Kei abuses his mouth. Pre-cum and drool drip from the corners of his lips, and he looks like something out of the pornos Kuroo Tetsurou had shown him.

His knot swells up and his whole dick is an angry, aroused red, and he feels like his entire lower half is on fire.

Kei comes with a choked sob into his fist, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. 

Washing his hands, he notices with a shock that he’s crying.

  
  


“Tsukki! Tsukki!”

Kei sighs and removes his headphones, glancing over his shoulder. Tadashi bounds towards him down the gravel driveway of his home, long hair wildly whipping around his face. The light catches in the strands and brings out the swampy undertones, brown hair almost green against the soft morning sky, hazel eyes sparkling against his rosy cheeks, and, oh, he’s beautiful.

“Tsukki,” Tadashi greets Kei, breathless. Kei flushes slightly as he remembers the events of two nights ago, but he pushes his embarrassment aside. It’s not like he hasn’t thought about Tadashi like that before, it was just he had never done it outside the privacy of his own bedroom. 

Cherry blossom petals flutter around them as they stand in front of Tadashi’s house. Kei sighs and shifts his backpack.

“Yamaguchi.”

Tadashi smiles at him so brightly Kei has to squint his eyes, and then he grabs the taller boy’s arm and drags them up the cobble-paved street, Tadashi’s ever-exhausted mother waving them with lackluster from the door.

They head toward school, the spring air carrying the scent of fresh growth and cherry blossom, still cold against the watery warmth of the sun. The town comes to life besides them as they walk up the hill Karasuno perches on, the lush forest to their right swaying in the breeze. The trees stretch up to the pale periwinkle sky, the soft buds on the tips of the green branches waiting to burst at the first hint of warmth. It is mid-April, and the sound of glass wind chimes tinkling faintly fills the gap between them as they walk in peaceful silence to school. 

  
  


Kei has his head down on his uncomfortably hard desk, headphones blasting some American pop song he doesn’t really understand, but the beat is catchy so he endures it. He runs his fingernails through the grain in his wooden desk as the sounds and scents of his classmates wash over him. He was never really good at socializing like Tadashi is, but it didn’t really matter. Kei doesn’t really need anyone besides him anyways. He is fine with solitude.

He cracks his eyes open and stares out the window. Just his luck that he sits right next to the window, the scalding light of the sun rubbing raw his skin, sky a white, frothy dome of humidity and conflict. Suddenly, a pervasive and strong alpha scent floods his nostrils, and Kei grimaces and pushes himself up. It smells like burning rubber, and he wonders how and why other omegas and even betas are attracted to a scent like that. Kei feels himself stiffen as he scans the room, immediately on edge, almost growling as he spots the scent’s owner. 

Uneo Hayate is tall, although not as tall as Kei is, with a head full of luscious caramel hair and two biting blue eyes. He leans over Tadashi’s desk, caging its owner’s slender body in, Hayate’s well-muscled arms on either side. 

Kei almost lets out a hiss of annoyance as he feels hostility flare beneath his skin. Hayate may look like a dream, but only nightmares lie beneath his skin. The other alpha is rude and arrogant with an ego ten times the size of his brain. There’s also something else that Kei can’t quite put his finger on, but it raises the hairs on the back of his neck. He feels that if he leaves the two of them alone for long enough, something bad will happen to Tadashi. It’s probably irrational, he tells himself, but panic begins to bubble up inside of him all the same.

Kei stands up and deliberately slowly makes his way to Tadashi’s desk, looming behind Hayate. He feels himself radiating hostility, his lemon and sage scent thickening, attracting the attention from two beta girls sitting a row over. They perk up in interest as Hayate slowly swings his head to the side, smirking as he catches Kei’s eyes.

“Tsukishima- _ kun, _ ” Hayate says with sarcastic politeness, pushing himself up and blocking Tadashi from Kei’s view. “How nice to see you.”

“Uneo,” Kei exchanges, mirroring the other alpha’s tone, lips quirking up to show his teeth.

Hayate smiles mockingly, his acrid scent growing stronger. 

“Something wrong, Tsukki?”

“Don’t call me that,” Kei sighs, fighting to keep his temper under control.

“Aw, but you let Tadashi call you that, why not me?” Hayate pouts, leaning back on Tadashi’s desk and running a hand through his hair, extruding arrogance and confidence.

Kei feels jealousy and unease course through his veins. Since when had Tadashi and Hayate been on first name terms?

Tadashi pops his head out from behind Hayate and fixes him with a slightly confused stare.

“Hi, Tsukki,” he says, “what’s up?”

“Yamaguchi—” Kei starts.

“I’m sure it’s nothing important,” Hayate breaks in, eyeing Kei with a challenging stare. “He can go back to his seat now. I’m surprised he even cares about you; he never seems to want to be friends unless there’s a chance of you finding someone better.”

Kei exhales sharply, feeling like he’s just been punched in the gut. Hayate had deliberately started off with a hardness Kei feels is a bit unwarranted. 

Tadashi laughs nervously and locks eyes with Kei. 

Kei is aware that half of the room is fixated on them, both alphas’ scents thick within the classroom. He narrows his eyes and sighs, rubbing his left temple.

“Our relationship is none of your business, Uneo, leave it alone. And who are  _ you _ to speak about ‘care’ when your third girlfriend of the  _ month _ is sitting behind you?”

As the said-ex twitches, Hayate’s smile takes on a menacing edge and his scent darkens further. Kei thinks he’s going to gag. He doesn’t know if his repulsion stems from the fact that Hayate is another alpha or the fact that he views him as a direct competitor, but he absolutely  _ reeks _ , and doesn’t understand how Tadashi can stand being so close to him. Then he remembers Tadashi is unpresented and doesn’t realize how fucking bad Hayate smells. 

“On the contrary,” Hayate starts, “I think that it  _ is _ my business. Because whatever  _ you _ say,  _ I _ care about Tadashi, and  _ I _ want to make sure that he’s happy and well, and not surrounded by people who don’t give a damn about him, who would rather shovel horseshit than call him first, people who are a complete  _ waste _ of time and energy. I’m sure you would agree, seeing that you care  _ so much _ about him as well.”

Kei surprises himself with a growl as he fixes Hayate with a glare. He draws himself up to his full height, towering over the smaller alpha. He can see Hayate’s eyes flare up challengingly, can sense the other alpha’s heart rate quickening. The room swirls with both of their scents as tension thickens between them. He’s hardly aware of the other omegas, betas, and even alphas flitting restlessly around the corners of the room, contemplating fleeing to just escape the smell. 

“And besides,” Hayate says, lowering his voice and shooting a glance over his shoulder, “if you don’t take care of him properly, someone might just sweep him away—”

A snarl rips its way from Kei’s throat as he seizes the front of Hayate’s blazer and lifts him up, his face just centimeters away from Kei’s. Hayate has a triumphant smirk on his face, and his usually narrowed eyes are wide with glee.

“Tsukishima! Uneo!”

Kei’s and Hayate’s heads swivel to face their homeroom teacher, standing in the doorframe, looking angry but apprehensive at the same time.

“Hall. Now,” he orders, stepping back and widening the door.

Kei lets Hayate drop to the floor, smirking as the other alpha stumbles slightly. He stalks past Hayate and into the hallway, aware of Tadashi’s questioning stare burning into his back.

  
  


“Tsukki,” Tadashi says, kicking a stray stone out of their path. They are walking to the club room to grab their bags before their practice match with Nekoma. The wind is stronger and slightly warmer, the sky dotted with puffy cotton clouds.

Kei ignores him and hikes his backpack higher up on his shoulders.

_ Am I really a bad friend? _

“Tsukki,” Tadashi says, this time exasperated. When he elicits no response from Kei, Tadashi scampers in front of the blonde, hands on hips, stopping him in his path.

Kei sighs and removes his headphones.

“What is it, Yamaguchi?”

“Tsukki, what happened earlier? What’s wrong?”

Kei lets out a huff of air. “Nothing.”

“Tsukki,” Tadashi pouts, “stop lying. I know something happened between you and Hayate. I’m not stupid.”

Kei smiles humorlessly, and shoves his hands in his pockets. “It’s really nothing, Yamaguchi.”

“Tsukishima,” Tadashi imitates Kei’s tone.

Kei starts, unused to the sound of his surname on Tadashi’s lips. His eyes flick across his friend’s freckled face, tan skin and hazel eyes shimmering in the hot, humid pre-summer air. Kei feels his heart start to flutter in his chest, blush creeping up his neck.

“Do you… like Uneo?”

The words are bitter in his mouth.

“Huh?” Tadashi starts, caught off guard. “Like as in what? Like a friend?”

“Sure,” Kei says. “Like a person.”

“Yeah—sure. Why?”

Kei swallows. “Is he—has he ever done anything… weird?”

“Uh,” Tadashi says, “I don’t think so? I mean, he’s never done anything... well, um.” 

Tadashi swallows and tucks a lock of hair behind his ear. 

“Hayate’s a chill dude, Tsukki. You just need to... to be more trusting around people. I’m sure you can get along if you try.”

Kei hums in response, but he can’t repress the unease he feels in his gut. Hayate might have not yet done anything to Tadashi, but who knows what will happen in the future? Those icy eyes flash in Kei’s mind’s eye. He shivers, feeling chilly in the heat of midday.

  
  


Tadashi threads his arm through Kei’s, pulling the middle blocker through the aisle of the bus, their bags bouncing off their shoulders. 

“Ah, Yamaguchi,” Kei says as his foot catches in a seat and he nearly stumbles over. “What are you doing?”

“I want to get a window seat, hurry, Tsukki,” he exclaims, yanking once more on Kei’s arm.

“Go on then, don’t drag me along.”

Tadashi huffs and releases his grip on Kei, scooting into an unoccupied window seat near the back. Kei follows more slowly, sliding into the space next to Tadashi and kicking his bag beneath the seat in front of him. He tugs on his headphones, tuning out whatever Tadashi is saying to Hinata Shouyou. The midget redhead has turned around in his seat and is leaning over the back, making wild gesticulations, mouth moving to make what Kei can accurately predict as sounds as stupid as his flapping arms.

Like Kei, Kageyama Tobio is sitting solemnly, wired in and hunched over. Kei assumes he’s doing homework, or something, who really cares? But maybe it’s foolish to think that; it’s not like that brain of his is capable of doing anything remotely intelligent, anyways. Kei closes his eyes and rests his head back, feeling slightly vulnerable with his throat bared to the sky.

Vast and untamed, the pale blue expanse of wisps and clots of clouds stretches far overhead, leering at him as he struggles beneath, weighed down by mundane fears and responsibilities. He wonders why Tadashi always wants to be in direct view of the sky. Is it because to him, the sky represents freedom? Tadashi takes to the sky as a bird does; fitting, because Karasuno’s mascot is a crow. But Kei wonders if it’s something else, something he’s never bothered to search for in Tadashi.

He’s brought back to reality when he feels fingers nudge his arm. Kei lifts an eyebrow, meeting his friend’s pretty eyes. They sparkle in the white light that falls through the dusty panes of glass, threading through his hair and bringing out the green undertones. Kei feels his heart make its way up his throat; he’s known Tadashi for so many years, he probably should be used to this by now.

“Hmm?”

“I made this new Spotifly playlist, want to listen?” he asks, his voice betraying his eagerness.

Kei sighs and unplugs his headphones and inserts them into the jack of Tadashi’s phone. He hits play, and is immediately caught off guard by delicate harp strums that can only be described as summer rain falling on roof tiles; the low, rich voice of some female American singer purrs through the melody. Her name seems vaguely familiar, and Kei blinks, impressed by Tadashi’s good taste.

“How do you like it, Tsukki?” Tadashi asks breathlessly, face open and flushed.

Kei swallows. 

“It’s not horrible.”

Tadashi grins and leans back, his cheek resting on Kei’s shoulder, brown hair tickling his chin. Kei tenses up, and for a fleeting second, considers pushing Tadashi away. But Tadashi’s soft, content breathing and the slightly flowery scent of his shampoo lulls him, and he relaxes into his best friend, their breaths mingling as the bus rumbles up the asphalt road, domed in by the hot, restless wrath of the sky.

  
  


Yawning, Kei trudges up the steps to Nekoma’s school gym. His bag bounces uncomfortably on his back, and the sun is too bright for his tired eyes. Ahead of him, Kozume Kenma and Shouyou walk in step together, the middle-blocker flailing his arms around wildly, occasionally hitting Tobio in the arm. The tall settler is walking in front of them, and turns to yell and swipe at his head every time they make contact. Shouyou gleefully yelps and ducks out of the way, and Tobio grumbles and turns back around. Kei frowns and focuses instead on the steps in front of him. 

_ Is that what friends do? _

Tadashi is walking a little ahead of him with Yachi Hitoka, occasionally turning back to give Kei an apologetic smile. Kei pretends to be nonplussed while anger fumes in his gut. Jealousy is a salivating beast, snapping its jaws into the emptiness it’s encased in. Kei wants to storm up and wrap his arms around Tadashi, claiming him, but he withholds himself, restrains himself. That’s not who he is.

Sometimes he almost lets the alpha in him take over.

The scent of black licorice invades his senses, and before Kei had time to look up, an arm falls heavy on his shoulders and Tetsurou’s annoyingly loud voice invades his personal space.

“Tsukki, what a pleasant surprise! I thought you would have dipped for sure.”

“Don’t call me that,” Kei says, rolling his eyes and pushing Tetsurou’s arm off.

“Where’s the puppy?” Tetsurou asks, leaning in close to Kei. His hooded eyes seem to smirk at him, and the blonde has to exercise every ounce of self control he has in order not to punch Tetsurou’s stupid face. Besides, Tetsurou’s mate is literally walking right in front of them, and he was not about to set off Kenma right before the practice match.

So Kei just shrugs and lets out some incoherent response and speeds up.

“Hey—hey, Tsukishima!” Kuroo reappears beside him. “You’re acting grouchier than usual today. Something happen between you and freckles?”

“Ohmygod  _ shut up _ ,” Kei finally mutters, glaring at Tetsurou’s shoes.

He can’t see it, but Kei senses Tetsurou’s smirk widen.

“Oh, did you two have a fight? Or are you—” he gasps comically “—jealous of someone, perhaps? You know, you stink, no offence...”

Kei laughs monotonically and rolls his eyes, tempering out his scent until it’s plain and unobtrusive. Inexplicably, he manages to feel even  _ more _ disenchanted with Tetsurou, something he thought wasn’t possible.

“Leave me the fuck alone.”

“Jeeze,” Tetsurou sighs, “you’re really wound up. Is it something bad?”

They step into the gym, and Kei is temporarily blinded again by the artificial lighting. The wooden floors gleam, the lights reflecting off a sheen of newly-applied polish.

“Just waxed?” Kei asks, nudging the floor with his shoe.

“Yeah, nice, isn’t it?” Tetsurou replies.

“It’s going to be damn slippery,” Kei says, frowning.

“You’ll stop complaining as soon as Yamaguchi’s ass ends up in the air.”

“Shut the hell up,” Kei says, shouldering past Tetsurou and stalking over to the locker room.

“It’s true!” Tetsurou howls after him, and Kei sticks up his middle finger in response, cheeks burning.

_ Did he really have to say that so loud? Annoying piece of shit. _

He pushes his way into the locker room and almost runs into Sawamura Daichi, who is about to walk out.

“Oh, Tsukishima,” Daichi says.

“Sorry,” Kei mutters, and steps back to let Daichi pass. Kei trains his eyes on his captain’s back. As soon as he steps on the court, Sugawara Koushi runs up to him, abandoning some Nekoma players who continue to set up the net. Daichi runs a hand through the breathtaking omega’s hair and Koushi leans into the touch.

Jealousy.

He yearns to have what they have. The casual, happy relationship, open and non-judgemental. But Kei is a cautious man, and the burning stare of strangers singeing his back as he touches Tadashi would be something he would loath. Besides, Tadashi probably wouldn’t want something like that. Kei knows he’s happy with their friendship the way it is: nothing more, nothing less. And Kei would keep it that way. 

He closes the door behind him.

  
  


Nishinoya Yuu, Azumane Asahi, Ennoshita Chikara, and Tanaka Ryuunosuke are shrugging on their jerseys in a corner, and Tadashi sits on the other side of the room, separated from his teammates by a shelf of lockers. He jerks up as soon as Kei walks in, and they make eye contact for a fleeting second before Tadashi gives a semi-smile and turns his attention to pulling up his knee pads.

“Hi, Tsukki,” he says as Kei approaches, and Kei stiffens; he can’t quite put his finger on it, but something isn’t quite right with Tadashi.

“Are you okay?” he asks, grabbing his clothes from his bag.

“Oh—yeah, I’m fine.”

But his voice is a little too high and slightly strained. Something definitely feels wrong about him, and Kei stops what he’s doing to give him a hard look.

Tadashi flushes under his gaze and leans down, hair parting like a curtain to reveal his smooth, lightly-freckled neck. Kei feels his gaze fixate on the unmarked skin with a gut-wrenching ferocity, and a sudden urge to claim, to mark Tadashi overcomes him. Eyes wide and ears roaring, Kei jerks up and turns his back to him, and busies himself with stripping his shirt and shimmying on his jersey.

He is pulling up his knee pads when he feels a gentle, warm weight on his back. He freezes in place, face flushing. He looks over his shoulder to see Tadashi resting his forehead against his spine, his own back arching beautifully from where he’s sitting.

“Yamaguchi...” Kei breathes.

“Oh!”

Tadashi jerks up, eyes wide and guilty.

“Sorry, Tsukki! I wasn’t thinking. I was tired, and, um, I—”

“Whatever,” Kei breaks in, biting his lip and giving his knee pad a final yank.

He sits up, and they survey each other for a few seconds, the blush dusting Tadashi’s cheeks blossoming slowly under the light like the flowers scattered across the entrance to the gym. 

“Ah—we should leave,” Tadashi finally stammers, breaking eye contact with Kei.

“I have to put on my shoes,” Kei says, keeping his tone light. “You go on ahead.”

“Ah, I can wait!” Tadashi says in a funny voice, and Kei frowns and narrows his eyes, scrutinizing Tadashi once more.

He laces his shoes and stands up, once again finding that Tadashi’s arm had fallen into the bow of his own. Kei slowly blinks down to look at his friend, breathless at the wash of heat that surges through him.

Kei reaches out a hand and cups it around the back of Tadashi’s head, pulling the shorter boy into him. He can feel Tadashi smile into the crook of his neck as his arms wrap around Kei’s back. Kei snakes his other hand around Tadashi’s waist, and the two stand there for a minute, just breathing in each other’s scents.

Subconsciously, he lowers his hand to thumb over where Tadashi’s scent gland would be. To his surprise, Tadashi whimpers and shivers, eyes flying open in surprise. He draws back to touch the spot on his neck, and mirrors Kei’s confused stare.

“Yamaguchi, is everything okay?” Kei asks.

“Y-yeah,” Tadashi stammers, face flushed, “it’s just that... I don’t know, that felt kind of weird, sorry.”

Kei blushes in response and takes a step back to take a deep breath.

“Yeah,” he manages, “sorry.”

And then Kei notices that they are left alone in the cool, dusty locker room. Honey-colored sunlight pours into the room through the skylights high up the wall, turning Tadashi’s muddy hair into a golden halo.

“We should get going, Tsukki,” Tadashi says, smiling slightly. “Or else Daichi’s going to whip our asses.”

“Yeah,” Kei says, licking his lips, halfway entranced by Tadashi’s loveliness. “We should.”

Tadashi’s alluring hazel eyes glimmer in the sunlight, Kei feels like he’s floating.

  
  


“Nice serve!” Daichi calls as Ryuunosuke hammers the ball over the net. Tetsurou receives it, albeit with some difficulty, and Kei tracks the ball’s descent as it falls toward Kenma. Without hesitation, the small settler sends it flying towards Haiba Lev, whose eyes light up like Tokyo during dusk.

Kei curses internally and he prepares himself to block the incoming spike. He launches himself up right as Lev’s palm slaps the ball, and it shoots forward, ricocheting off the tips of Kei’s fingers. It arcs high overhead, and Yuu dives to keep the ball from hitting the ground.

“Nice save!” Asahi praises from Kei’s right. 

Tobio receives the ball and sends it over to his left. Shouyou is there at the net in a flash, and before Kei has time to blink, he’s spiked it over the net. However, Nekoma’s libero manages to save the ball by the skin of his teeth, and it hurtles turbulently high above the net. Kei widens his stance in anticipation. It’s difficult to tell which side the ball will land. 

“Shit,” he says under his breath. The ball changes course straight towards Kenma, who quickly sets to Tetsurou.

Mustering the last of his strength, he intercepts the powerful spike Tetsurou delivers, but at this point he’s so exhausted the ball blows his hands right out of the way and thuds to the ground with a decisive smack.

Tetsurou smirks at him as the whistle blows: it’s match point. Karasuno has lost. Again.

Kei sighs as Ryuunosuke pounds his back.

“It’s okay, Tsukishima,” he reassures, “Kuroo’s got a wicked spike.”

Kei glances down sourly at his arms. They flop uselessly at his sides like two pieces of cooked ramen.

“Nice game,” Daichi huffs to the panting team. “Although we lost overall, we managed to get a third set with Nekoma, and then end not too far behind. I say a twenty-three to twenty-five in the third set is definitely an improvement from last year, don’t you think?”

Koushi smiles at Daichi, his strawberry scent calming amongst the musk of sweat, adrenaline, and alpha pheromones. Was Nekoma’s whole team made of alphas besides Kenma? They  _ reeked _ .

Tadashi sidles up to Kei as he’s reaching down to grab his water bottle.

“Nice game, Tsukki,” he offers, fidgeting with the hem of his jersey. 

Kei squints his eyes and leans toward Tadashi to get a better view of his face.

No, it’s not his shit vision or foggy glasses. Tadashi’s pupils were almost full-blown, and he had a slightly vacant look on his face.

“You okay, Yamaguchi? Nice serve, by the way, in the second set. You managed to break Nekoma’s streak.”

Tadashi smiled abashedly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh... thank you, Tsukki. But I’m nowhere near as cool as you are. I’m not even a regular.”

Kei snorts. “It’s my fault Nekoma won the match point. I’m still cool to you?”

Tadashi blinks at Kei, almost as if he was confused. “You’ll never  _ not _ be cool to me, Tsukki.”

Kei throws his towel over his head and sets to drying his sweat-dampened hair to hide his burning cheeks. 

  
  


Kei throws his sweaty uniform in his tote bag and zips it up. He’s struggling on his blazer when he smells that black licorice scent, although accompanied this time by a softer cinnamon. 

_ What’s up with them? Are they running a damn bakery here or what? _

“Tsukki,” Tetsurou purrs, hooking a finger around the back of Kei’s team blazer.

Kei makes an extremely un-manly noise.

“Kuroo,” he complains, smacking Tetsurou’s arm away.

“I saw the way you were looking at him after the match today,” Tetsurou teases. “You two are so damn obvious. Just fuck him already.”

Kei sputters and whips around to face Tetsurou and Kenma, mouth agape.

“You—!”

“Don’t worry; no one’s here. Kenma checked, right, babe?”

Kenma nods impassively, not looking up from his gameboy.

“Still! You can’t say things like that about me and him!” Kei grits through his teeth. 

“Awh, Tsukki, you’re such a prude. Don’t tell me you’ve never thought of him like that; you’re a growing boy and full of hormones.”

“Fuck off, Kuroo,” Kei sighs. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Tsukishima.”

Kei looks at him, slightly surprised at his sudden change in tone. Tetsurou looks serious for once.

“What?” he grumbles reluctantly.

“You should be careful with him,” Tetsurou warns. “If you let your guard down, someone could dash right in and swoop him off his feet. And where would you be?”

Kei clenches his teeth as Tetsurou’s words echo Uneo’s from earlier.

_ “If you don’t take care of him properly, someone might just sweep him away...” _

“Yeah, yeah,” Kei says, fighting to maintain a cool demeanor. He shoulders his bag. “And besides, Yamaguchi is unpresented. If he ends up being an alpha, things won’t work between us.”

He gives Tetsurou a look. 

“You two were lucky, you know. You claimed Kenma before he even presented. If he was an alpha, you probably would have been done for.”

He brushes past Tetsurou and Kenma. “See you later, I guess.”

“No.”

Kei pauses, the door handle in his grasp. He turns around.

Tetsurou and Kenma are both looking at him intently.

“No,” Tetsurou repeats. “I claimed him because I didn’t give a  _ shit _ about his second gender. I knew Kenma was the one for me, no matter what he presented as. It will always be Kenma, and no one else. I’d take him as an alpha over any omega any day.”

Kei blinks and straightens up, a little defensive, caught in Tetsurou’s headlights.

“That’s what love is. Get your ass out of my school, you pathetic lump of a middle blocker.”

Kei shoots him the finger again, to which Tetsurou mirrors. He slaps on his headphones and walks out the shiny gym and descends the rough concrete steps to meet his team.

Tadashi bounds up to meet him, and Kei can see Tobio smirking out of the corner of his eye. Repressing a well-deserved eyeroll, Kei drapes an arm around the shorter boy and steers them to the bus. They clamber on, and Tadashi picks out a window seat, patting the worn polyester seat beside him.

During the ride back, Tadashi rambles on about what he had read last night, how much Lev has grown since the last time they saw him, arbitrary snippets of gossip from school, a new shooter-style game that had just come out, nothing that Kei deems important enough to listen to but does anyways. He listens until Tadashi’s head starts to droop onto his shoulder. Feeling the familiar pressure, he’s only reminded of Tetsurou’s and Hayate’s words, replaying in his mind like a broken record. Tadashi’s body is soft against his side.

Kei yawns, stretching the best he could without disturbing the other boy. He slips his headphones off and lets them fall into his lap. His eyelids droop, and he feels his cheek press into the downy brown hair of his best friend and long-lasting crush.

  
  


Kei walks Tadashi home. They are bathed in moonlight, everything tinged silver under the ashen glow. Tadashi wears Kei’s blazer over his own, shivering despite the second layer.

Kei had lied and said he wasn’t cold. He’s certain he’s halfway frozen now, his cells screaming in agony as the water molecules within them slow down to a slight vibration, locking into place. But he was alright, really, if it meant Tadashi was a little warmer in the crisp spring night.

They pause in front of Tadashi’s house. The brunette smiles shyly and slips off Kei’s blazer, handing it to its owner.

“Well… good night, Tsukki. See you tomorrow.”

Kei takes his blazer back, fingers lingering over Tadashi’s.

“Yeah… see you.”

Tadashi offers one last soft smile before turning to walk up his driveway. He waves again to Kei before the front door closes after him, and the house swallows him whole.

Kei turns and starts the lonely trek up to his house. He presses the blazer to his face. It smells faintly of Tadashi and himself, but also a little of something else he can’t quite put his finger on. He chalks it up to being one of the scents of Nekoma’s alphas, god, they had a lot, and shivers as the biting spring wind rakes its fingers through his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah, sorry for uneo hayate! i wanted an antagonist but i didn't want to make any of my haikyuu babies manipulative and domineering alphas. hayate isn't even a proper oc: i just kinda whipped him out off the top of my head for the purpose of this story alone. anyways, this should update weekly, so stay tuned for chapter two. thank you for reading! <3


	2. dew-speckled jasmine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a sickening lurch in his chest, Kei realizes that Tadashi would be the only one for him, and that no matter how far and wide he searches, no matter how many lives he goes through, no one else would be able to replace the soft look in Tadashi’s eyes, the elegant curve of his lips as he smiles so prettily for Kei.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, thank you all so much for your support on my last chapter. i am so happy that people actually want to read my works! anyways, i don't know if you can tell, but fluff really isn't my strong suit. that being said, i feel like i could have written this chapter much better, but i am very busy, and writing is only a hobby of mine. nevertheless, i hope you enjoy, and welcome to chapter two!
> 
> [chapter warning(s): adult language]

The window pane is cool to the touch, glass glimmering like a sheet of ice in the noontide sun. It’s so incredibly hot and muggy outside that condensation has formed on the pane, sweating profusely like the world outside the air-conditioned school. 

Kei sighs internally, how is it  _ possibly _ this hot in April? This summer is going to suck ass. The moment he had stepped from the sweltering schoolground into Karasuno’s gym, his glasses had fogged up, and temporarily blinded, he had stumbled into Tadashi.

The other boy was slightly sticky from the humidity, but as Kei’s nose was crushed into the top of his head, Tadashi smelled strangely sweet, as if he had been rolling around in a bed of wildflowers. Kei had pushed it aside, attributing it to the mass of cherry blossoms they were forced to wade through to get to school that morning. But he couldn’t keep his eyes off of Tadashi. Every small movement drew him in like bees to honey.

Maybe he was delirious from the heat; who knows?

Ah, Tadashi. Everything just seems to circle back to him.

_ But what if he really does present as an alpha? _

Kei furrows his brows, pushing his forehead closer to the surface of his wooden desk.

Kei himself was an early bloomer, and an alpha as expected: everyone in his family was one, after all, aside from his beta mother. And as soon as he outgrew his baby fat, he had the unmistakable markings of an alpha: the height, the intensity, and possessiveness.

But Tadashi?

Kei shoots a subtle glance at his friend, who is scribbling furiously in his notebook, handwriting, without a doubt, nearly illegible. Kei observes the grateful curve of Tadashi’s wrist as his black chicken-scratch lines the page, and Kei knows he should be taking notes as well, but Japanese is  _ so fucking boring. _ And the class was easy enough to pass as long as you weren’t illiterate; he would know what to do during the exams because the language is a sixth sense to him, as it should be, grammar rules flowing effortlessly from pen to paper without much thought put into their memorization.

Kei studies Tadashi some more. He certainly has the physique of an alpha. Tadashi’s so meek, sometimes it’s hard to remember he’s nearly six foot, towering over all the girls and a large portion of the boys in their grade. He’s got long legs, body all limber and lean and slightly muscled now that puberty had run most of its course.

But he’s still got that round, heart-shaped face, those incredibly soft features and the big doe eyes Kei had long since left behind from when he was a child. He looks about as menacing as a mouse, with those wispy eyelashes, so long and curved Kei never knows what to do with himself when Tadashi’s angled just right so that light catches on his lashes, painting them white in its soft glow.

Maybe Tadashi isn’t what one would consider to be conventionally attractive, but Kei thinks he’s alluring all the same, as if bits of starshine had nestled into the depths of his hazel eyes, flecks of light scattering across his cheeks every time he blinks.

Kei bites his lip and turns his eyes away. Tetsurou’s words resurface from the other day.

_ “I claimed him because I didn’t give a shit about his second gender. I knew Kenma was the one for me, no matter what he presented as. It will always be Kenma, and no one else. I’d take him as an alpha over any omega any day.” _

  
  


Kei guesses he has his family to partially blame for his views. His father is quite the traditionalist, as in  _ thou shalt not love another alpha or a beta male; thou must choose either a beta female or an omega for thou mate.  _ His mother was no better; although Kei doesn’t know exactly where she stands on the matter, she’s so quiet and obedient that Kei sometimes wonders if his father had trained her to act like an omega.

The thought sends shivers down his spine.

And Akiteru? Well... he wasn’t home a lot. He’s probably off somewhere in Japan having the time of his life while Kei is still shacked to his parents, forever scrutinized under their watchful gaze.

He sometimes wishes things were different, but then he reminds himself that if that were true, he and Tadashi might not have met, and he wouldn’t want that for the world.

Tadashi is shy and meek and a complete pushover, anxious and weak and maybe a bit of a coward, but he’s also kind and compassionate and thoughtful, forever forgiving and sometimes a little stubborn and cute when he pouts. He’s the only one who is able to read Kei like an open book, and he’s the only one that Kei knows like the back of his hand.

Tadashi’s the single lone soul who had managed to work his way through Kei’s prickly exterior and make a home beside him in his gloomy heart, all bright smiles and gentle touches and freckles scattered across his skin like constellations, eyes like stars.

Kei lowers his eyelids, his hands becoming blurry as he lets a rare smile quirk his lips. Maybe Tetsurou was getting at something. Maybe Tadashi’s second gender doesn’t really matter. If Kei could just have him, that would be enough.

The scrape of chairs across the hard floor alerts him to lunch break more than the bell, and he looks up to meet Tadashi’s eyes. With a sickening lurch in his chest, Kei realizes that Tadashi  _ would _ be the only one for him, and that no matter how far and wide he searches, no matter how many lives he goes through, no one else would be able to replace the soft look in Tadashi’s eyes, the elegant curve of his lips as he smiles so prettily for Kei. 

  
  


Tadashi sits next to him, eating some sort of mixed vegetable assortment from his bento box, arm comfortably pressed into Kei’s as they sit on the floor, backs against the wall. The windows above their heads have been thrown open and syrup sunlight pours through, lighting up the bleak classroom. Kei can smell the sweet scent of cherry blossoms wafting through, leaflitter blowing by, dancing and swooping through the warm air before settling on the desks nearest, shades of green or pink against dull brown.

Kei picks at his lunch, eyes lazy and half-lidded as he enjoys Tadashi’s company, music from his headphones halfway lulling him to sleep. Tadashi seems drowsy as well, eyes unfocused and drooping as he chews half-heartedly. Something about that sends sparks through Kei’s stomach, and he shifts so Tadashi’s head falls onto his shoulder. The other doesn’t seem to mind, or perhaps doesn’t notice, eyes so relaxed they’re nearly shut. 

Somewhere in the back of Kei’s mind, through the haze and heat, a little pocket of intelligence that hadn’t been zapped away tells him that maybe somehow this is different; Kei isn’t acting like he usually does and he doesn’t know why.

But Kei bats away the intrusive thought. He’s just been so stressed from school and volleyball for the past few months, god, he’s so fucking exhaused.

Tadashi’s lips move, and Kei removes his headphones with a  _ what? _ on the tip of his tongue. But when he glances up, and the lazy fog of sunlight and flowers dissipates abruptly, as if sucked up by a vacuum cleaner.

Of  _ course _ Uneo-fucking-Hayate towers over the two of them, smelling like tar and ass and all things holy, eyes cruel and cold like ice. Kei bristles and hunches over further as if to shield Tadashi from the other alpha.

Kei can just make out Tadashi call a greeting before he’s unceremoniously jerked to the side with a very uncollected squawk: Hayate’s shouldered him aside to slide next to Tadashi, looping an arm around the sagging boy.

Kei nearly hisses and shoots up, long legs bumping the wooden desks as he practically launches away from Hayate, shivers crawling up his body from where his skin brushed against the other’s uniform.

Hayate shoots him a sleazy smirk before turning his attention to Tadashi. Kei watches with baited breath as Hayate’s cool complexion twitches for a moment, nostrils flaring and a small crease appearing between his brows. He leans towards the top of Tadashi’s head, the other still largely unresponsive, and something in Kei writhes in panic, and before his brain can catch up with his body, a low warning growl rumbles from his chest.

Hayate’s eyes dart to lock with his own, blue and intense against his sharp brown. He smiles coyly and subtly leans to the side, bringing his head slightly closer to Tadashi’s. Kei sucks in a breath.

“Stop,” he manages, jerky and disjointed.

Hayate’s narrowed eyes open, and he takes on a look of feigned innocence.

“What are you talking about, Tsukishima? Mad that I’m spending time with your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Kei snaps back, quick, almost reflexively.

“Oh,” says Hayate, a grin spreading across his snakelike features, “so he’s up for the taking?”

Kei tries to bore holes through Hayate’s thick skull with his eyes alone. 

_ This motherfucker. _

Jealousy swoops through his abdomen and it takes everything in his power to not kick Hayate in the ribs. Distantly, with rising horror, he can feel his scent take on a sharp and aggressive edge, and smells Hayate’s rising as well.

And then his eyes fly fully open, and he knows this is Hayate’s plan all along. To rile Kei up enough that he’s sent out, and leaving Tadashi all to himself. 

But before he’s fully conscious of his actions, Kei feels his legs propel him from Hayate’s and out of the classroom, as if anything to get away from the infuriating caramel blonde, even if it means leaving his mate unprotected behind.

Then that thought pulls him up short.

_ Mate?! _

Since when did Tadashi become equivalent to  _ mate _ in his mind?

Well—yeah, Kei’s already decided that he’d stick around and love Tadashi for the rest of his life, but he’s... well, maybe mate  _ had _ come up a few times in his train of thought. Even when he was talking to Tetsurou in the locker room, he was thinking of Tadashi more along the  _ boyfriends _ line. But that was so stupid, thinking of Tadashi as a mate. They weren’t even dating. Tadashi didn’t even know Kei liked him and Kei... didn’t even know if Tadashi liked him back. Would Tadashi be as willing to spend the rest of eternity with him? The thought of him not sends drips of ice-cold fear down his spine.

He’s dimly aware of footsteps behind him until that ever-infuriating scent floods his nostrils, by  _ god _ , he thinks he hates it even more that Tetsurou’s.

“Aww, did the scaredy-cat alpha run away from his mate’s side? Guess it’s just natural selection doing it’s thing.”

The arrogant and self-assured voice grates on Kei’s eardrums, and he steers himself to face Hayate. For the millionth time, he’s grateful that his height allows him to look down on the other alpha. But it doesn’t seem to bother Hayate much, teeth locked into a self-satisfied smirk.

“Well, with a head that inflated, I don’t think you’ll last long either,” Kei spits. “And it’s remarkable that with all that space you can’t find two neurons to fire together.”

“At least I’m not so emotionally constipated that the only thing that flies from my mouth is waterlogged shit,” Hayate fires back. “When is your appointment with the plumber? I bet even  _ he _ can teach you a thing or two about human decency.”

Kei snorts. “You want to talk about human decency in front of me? Let’s get one thing straight: you only hang around Yamaguchi to get in his pants like all the other girls you’ve courted this past month; oh, how so willingly they fall at your feet only to be used once and tossed away like garbage, and  _ you’ve _ got the nerve to talk about  _ decency _ to  _ me _ ?”

Hayate bares his teeth, but Kei’s so pissed the gesture doesn’t look threatening at all: it fits a dying predator making its last stance against the jaws of impending death.

Kei snorts bitterly at Hayate, and offers a wolfish grin of his own, rolling back his shoulders to place his hands on his hips. 

“You know nothing about me,” Kei hisses, “about us. Stop trying to intrude on something you have no business with. No matter how many times you try and sweet talk him into your bed, he won’t budge. We both know he’s bound to me,” Kei adds, a wave of possessiveness surging through him, “and  _ you _ won’t get in the way.”

Hayate opens his mouth to say something, but Kei’s had absolutely enough at that point, and he shoves past the shorter boy, roughly jostling him with his shoulder as he makes his way back to Tadashi.

“Tsukki!” Tadashi squeaks as soon as he enters the classroom.

A cluster of omega girls turn to eye Kei up, which he finds relatively strange as this is absolutely nothing new, but he ignores them in favor of making his way over to his friend, doing his best to appear as apathetic as possible in hopes that how easily Hayate is able to rile him up stays concealed.

Tadashi meets him halfway, peering up at Kei with those round almond eyes, long lashes framing them so they look as soft as silk, and then he makes some sort of noise low in his chest, so subtle and foreign that Kei’s left wondering if he’d just hallucinated it.

He huffs and takes a step forward, crowding Tadashi and forcing him to turn back around and make their journey to their spot. He can feel the eyes of their classmates on them, and Kei’s ears heat up uncomfortably, scowl returning.

“Tsukki,” Tadashi whispers again once they’ve settled, “are you okay?”

Kei grunts in response, turning his head.

He almost jumps out his skin when he feels a warm press of gentle fingers on his jaw, and he slowly turns his head, shocked, to eye Tadashi. The younger boy is blinking questionably at him, seemingly unfazed at how his hand is grazing Kei’s cheek, almost intimately, as he leans in.

Kei gets another whiff of that scent from that morning, and his mind goes a little fuzzy. He shakes his head, dislodging Tadashi’s hand in the process, and angles his body a little away from the other teen, taking a deep breath and gathering his thoughts.

_ What the hell is going on? _

He doesn’t expect to feel the presence of Tadashi’s hand again, although this time it’s planted firmly on his shoulder, and Kei turns back to face him to tell him to  _ knock it off _ when his eyes are deadlocked onto Tadashi’s neck. Tadashi’s head is tilted to the side, mouth opened almost as if to ask a question, eyes curious as they sweep over Kei’s. 

Kei feels a swoop in his gut like yesterday’s, almost frightened by the voices in his head that urge him to  _ bite, mark, claim _ . The creamy, freckled expanse of skin beckons to him, and with a pang of panic, Kei can feel his mouth water. He’s frozen solid as Tadashi slowly leans forward, neck bowed to rub the top of his head along the bottom of Kei’s jaw, downy hair scratchy against his delicate flesh. 

Kei frowns, pursing his lips into a straight line. It’s not like he doesn’t  _ like _ Tadashi like this, all attentive and pressed up close, it’s just that this is a little strange because he  _ knows _ how Kei cherishes his personal space. He wrinkles his nose, starting to feel the edges of worry prick him—is Tadashi sick or something?

He’s pulled out of his thoughts by the bell, and slightly reluctantly, pushes Tadashi away and stands up, brushing himself off. He faces the window and takes a deep breath of fresh spring air, head clearing a little.

He tries to pull answers from the sky above, its usual blue clouded by wafts of humidity, water vapor arching overhead to encase him in its dome, shielding the turbulent periwinkle sky from them all. Curls of cobweb cloud blow stickily around the corners of the sky, forming rings around the merciless beat of the sun. Kei squints at the hot mass of burning hydrogen and helium, wondering how in the hell that fireball of atoms undergoing nuclear fusion can make him feel so small and insignificant, merely a speck of organic matter on a spinning chunk of rock hurtling through space at two million miles a day, racing the other planets that swarm the same plasma mass toward impending doom.

  
  


“Diving drills! Ready, set, go!”

Kei grunts as he propels himself forward, chest hitting the hard gym floor with a dull thud, friction dragging his cotton t-shirt backwards. He feels a sharp sting on his chin, damn, did he skin it?, before a small and compact body rams into him from behind.

“Oi, watch it!” he snaps at Shouyou, who offers him a smile devious enough to rival Tobio’s.

“You should be quicker, then, Tiredshima,” he teases, springing up to avoid the next incoming body.

Kei rolls to his side just in time to avoid being flattened by Yuu, who slides gracefully across the floor with practiced ease.

“Wow, so cool, Nishinoya-senpai!” Shouyou gushes, jumping up and down in place and making a complete fool of himself.

Yuu, thought process obviously diverging wildly from Kei’s, pushes himself up and thrusts out his chest, preening under his kouhai’s praise. 

Their stupidity wafts towards him so thickly he feels like gagging as he pushes himself to his feet. If hair could make up for lack of brain matter, they’d still be prokaryotic.

“Tsukki!” comes brightly from behind, and Kei barely has time to turn before Tadashi’s crashed into his shoulder with a muffled noise of surprise.

“What the—?”

“Ah, sorry, Tsukki!” Tadashi giggles, “I lost track of space!”

_ Am I truly alone in a world full of idiots? _

But Tadashi blinks up at him so innocently and expectantly that Kei has to bite out a halfhearted “what?” before the brunette just smiles and tilts his head up to rest his chin on Kei’s shoulder.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryuunosuke brings up the final wave of dives, howling as his elbow scrapes along the floor.

Kei snorts, completely unsympathetic although his chin hurts like a bitch. Daichi, with a flick of the wrist, signals for a second round of diving. He suppresses a well-deserved groan and resigns his fate as to do diving drills until he plunges off the edge of the fucking earth.

  
  


The first time it happens, he doesn’t really pay it any attention. 

He and Tadashi are sitting along the sidelines, doing some warm-up stretches before their scrimmage, taking measured sips from their water bottles. As Kei lifts the rim to his lips, his eyes find Koushi’s, its owner standing off to the side with Asahi. Both are looking a little too intently at him—or, Kei realizes, with a funny lurch—was it Tadashi? 

Either way, as soon as their eyes meet, Koushi casually turns away, and he and Asahi begin to engage in idle talk.

Kei shrugs and forgets about it in a few seconds, attention redirected when Tadashi asks him to push down on his back, slender fingers reaching for his toes. 

  
  


The second time, Kei’s tensed at the net, eyes locked onto Tobio as the orange midget dashes towards him, volleyball falling in a graceful arc through the gym air glimmering with dust motes as it approaches the setter’s outstretched fingers.

Kei narrows his eyes and quickly analyzes Tobio’s body language—what type of attack is he going for? Shouyou isn’t moving fast enough so Kei rules out their freak quick, but then something catches his eye. He’s distracted by Yuu’s orange jersey. Across from him, the libero is crouched, but his eyes aren’t on the game: they’re trained on Tadashi, who stands nonchalantly beside him.

Kei frowns. Tadashi isn’t doing anything. And then, to his horror, the ball whizzes past his ear and slams to the ground directly behind him. Shouyou lets out a whoop and charges Tobio, demanding a high-five.

“Tsukishima!” Daichi commands sharply. “Eyes on the ball!”

“You didn’t even move,” Ryuunosuke complains from next to him, “what’s up with that?”

“Sorry,” Kei mutters, blinking, still a bit disoriented and confused. 

He glances up again, and Yuu is saying something to Asahi, completely ignoring Tadashi whom he had just been ferociously staring at.

Kei deepens his frown.

_ What is going on? _

Because now it’s evident that it wasn’t  _ him _ whom Koushi was looking at earlier. Why was everyone acting so weird today? 

Kei’s team loses the scrimmage narrowly, and then he has to put up with Shouyou’s triumphant jeering in the club room, trying his very best to not blow a fuse and rip all his hair out.

And yes, something is definitely wrong—not only is Asahi looking more skittish than usual, but Daichi’s tensed up, and even Ryuunosuke looks to be a bit on edge. 

And Tadashi. What on earth is he doing?

He’s staring unabashedly as Kei strips his shirt, ears heating up as he feels Tadashi’s eyes burn through his back. It’s so embarrassing and completely unlike Tadashi that Kei is seriously starting to worry about him; had he gotten enough sleep last night? Surely he hadn’t pulled an all-nighter? But then there’s a small scuffle and a tiny yelp of surprise and pain from Tadashi, and Kei whips around as quickly as he can, a surge of  _ something _ coursing through his veins as he bares his teeth at Koushi, who stares at him, alarmed and mouth slightly agape.

The third year’s arm is slightly elevated at his side, Tadashi’s head bowed, and Kei assumes he’d probably smacked the back of his head.

Then he realizes the whole team’s staring at him,  _ oh fuck, _ because his pherhoromes have become potent and laced with anger and protectiveness, an unconcious biological reaction to Tadashi’s pain.

_ What is happening to me? I’ve never lost control of myself like this so many times in quick succession. _

Kei takes a breath, slightly shuddering as he wills himself to dampen the scent that swirls through the room.

Yuu, with the unfortunate luck of being both small and omegan, looks as if he’s about to pass out, Ryuunosuke and Asahi staring at him in alarm.

Daichi strides towards Kei, face stormy and mouth set in stone. 

“Out,” he all but growls, tugging Kei, bewildered, humiliated, and stumbling, with him.

Tadashi may have made a small noise, but it was lost against the slamming of the heavy wooden door behind them.

Kei expects Daichi to chew him out, but does not expect the shorter, albeit stronger, alpha to slam him against the side of the building, glasses rattling on the bridge of his nose. Kei gawks at him; Daichi has never looked this angry before, has  _ never _ used force to discipline.

“Tsukishima,” he grits through his teeth, “get ahold of yourself.”

“I—I’m sorry—” he stutters, head reeling.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you and Yamaguchi, but please, dial it down: it’s affecting the whole team.”

And then Kei notices how dilated Daichi’s pupils are, the aggravated edge to his fresh ginger scent. Fuck, he must have been riled up by Kei’s pherhormones.

_ Wait, what? Me and… Yamaguchi? _

Kei swallows, willing the intrusive thought away, and sighs and turns his head to the side.

“Sorry, Captain.”

Daichi takes a pace back and narrows his eyes, scrutinizing Kei. He looks like he wants to say something, but then his eyes blink and pupils shrink, and he seems to think better of it.

“Take Yamaguchi and go home,” he says, sounding weary. “Right now, please.”

Kei nods, ashamed, and Daichi lets him pass to open the club door and call out Tadashi’s name.

  
  


_ “Tsukki,” _ Tadashi says over the line, voice crackling against the staticky background,  _ “I don’t feel that great. I think I’m going to stay home tomorrow.” _

Kei straightens his back, slightly alarmed. Tadashi was one of those incredibly stupid but admirable people who went to school even when burning with a thirty-nine degree celsuis fever, all hot and flushed, breath warm against Kei’s chest as he falls, all sweaty and weak, into his arms.

“Stupid,” Kei sighs, “I’m not going to your funeral.”

Tadashi must have picked up on his concern because he huffs a cute, breathy laugh into the phone that makes the little hairs on the nape of Kei’s neck stick up.

_ “Worried you’d be left a widower and have to pay off the mortgage all by yourself?” _

Kei blushes a vivid red at this and splutters at what Tadashi’s implying.

_ “Don’t worry, Tsukki!” _ Tadashi chatters, continuing as if he hadn’t just caused Kei to go into cardiac arrest,  _ “I plan to live a long, long life.” _

Although unuttered, the  _ “by your side”  _ lingers in the air like smoke, and he sighs into the phone, trying his best to sound annoyed.

“Okay, I’ll bring you tomorrow’s work, then. I’ll drop it off right after volleyball practice.”

_ “Tell Daichi-san and our teacher?” _

Kei hums an affirmative through the phone, and then they are silent for a few moments, just listening to the woosh of the other’s breath over the quiet line.

_ “Well, I’d better go, then,” _ Tadashi murmurs.

Kei grunts, and then clears his throat. “Ah—get plenty of rest, and make sure to drink lots of fluid.”

_ “I know; who are you, my mom?” _ Tadashi teases, and Kei scowls, even though he knows Tadashi can’t see him.

“Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

_ “Sorry, Tsukki!” _

There’s a few beats more of silence before Tadashi squeaks a quick  _ “goodnight, Tsukki!” _ and with a click, the line goes dead. 

Kei lets it hang for a few minutes, the static permeating his otherwise silent bedroom before finally sliding his fingers across to end the call.

He leans back in his desk chair, stretching, and glances out his bedroom window.

The night is dark and cool, wind howling faintly in the distance as cars, small as beetles, whip across the freeway far behind his neighborhood. The streetlamps on his street flicker with their varying tones of artificial lighting, moths fluttering around them, white wings catching the glare and making them seem as beguiling as butterflies against the daytime sky.

The cherry blossom trees, bursting with flowers, are painted a sickly silver in the full moon’s light as it shines gently upon the quiet earth, stars embedded in the velvet sky twinkling like diamonds.

  
  


Kei pulls his scarf further up his nose. Yesterday was hot as hell; today, the wind was blustery and icy, and overnight, frost had accumulated over the fresh spring green. The sky is a dull, bloated gray, purple rain clouds swollen in the horizon. Kei walks briskly, shoes tapping against the slick sidewalk as he trudges uphill towards Karasuno. Thank god this morning’s volleyball practice had been cancelled. Kei had stayed up embarrassingly late last night with his head buried in his arms, thinking about Tadashi and mulling over the previous day’s events.

He is about to cross the street when he hears the rapid pattering of footsteps, growing closer and closer with each passing second. Kei freezes and turns around, eyes going wide.

“Tsukki!” Tadashi calls, hurtling towards him, looking about two seconds from keeling over and dying on the spot.

“You have got to be the biggest fucking idiot on the entire planet,” Kei deadpans as Tadashi stumbles to a halt in front of him, doubled over and panting.

Tadashi straightens slightly to look up at him, eyes hazy and unfocused, half-closed. His hair is unkempt and ragged, sticking out in odd places. He somehow looks too pale and overly flushed at the same time, skin sickly yellow and cheeks red as cherries. His eyes sport dark purple shadows, and he’s trembling. Kei glances down at his uniform. His blazer is falling off his shoulder along with his bag, and he’s buttoned his shirt wrong.

Kei closes his eyes and rubs his temples.

“No,” he sighs, “No way. You are going home. You look half-dead.”

“Tsukki,” he whines, hands fastening onto Kei’s jacket sleeve.

Kei huffs and tries to pull his arm from Tadashi’s grip, but the smaller boy tightens his hold, knuckles white.

And that  _ smell. _ That weird flowery scent from yesterday is stronger, and it had taken on a sickly-sweet edge.

Kei takes a deep breath and exhales through his nose. Irritation is creeping up on him, spurred on by Tadashi’s stupidity and stubbornness.

“You can’t go to school like this,” he grits out. “You’re sick. You need to stay home and rest. I already told you I’d give you today’s homework, and I’ll catch you up on everything you’ll miss.”

But Tadashi shakes his head, and another shiver wracks his body. Kei suddenly becomes aware of the cold spring morning.

He clicks his tongue, unwrapping his scarf from his neck. He loops it around Tadashi, pulling up the fabric so it covers his nose and mouth. Tadashi looks at him, eyes surprised, wide and glassy. 

“Come on,” Kei says gruffly, turning his head to hide the pink that tinges his cheeks. “Let’s go back home now.”

Kei has to repress a groan of frustration when Tadashi marches past him, eyes narrowed and determined, gait slightly wobbly as he fists his hands in the fabric around his neck. Kei can’t exactly force him to stay back, but Tadashi should know better than this. Kei sighs, jogging a few paces to catch up with him.

  
  


As soon as they step into the room, half of the class turns their heads to look at them. Kei frowns and nudges Tadashi, who had frozen in the doorframe. The freckled boy gives his head a little toss and shakily makes his way to his desk. Kei surprises himself by following him over, perching on the edge of Tadashi’s desk and the younger slumps over.

Kei gently cards his fingers through Tadashi’s silken locks.

“It’s not too late,” he murmurs. “You can still go to the nurse and go home before lessons begin.”

“I’m fine,” Tadashi says, voice faint. “I’ve told you over and over again, Tsukki. I feel fine.”

Kei snorts, fingers tightening in Tadashi’s hair. The younger squeaks, and to Kei’s horror and uttermost embarrassment, it morphs into something akin to a moan. Kei jerks his arm away, and Tadashi stiffens, unmoving, unbreathing.

A wave of buzzing crashes through his ears, and he feels the world tilt on its axis. Alarmed, Kei grips the edges of the desk in a futile effort to stabilize himself.

Faintly, he’s aware of Hayate plunking down in his seat, two spaces behind Tadashi’s.

“You really let him come to school like this.”

It wasn’t phrased like a question, Hayate’s slightly amused voice drifting towards him. Kei snaps out of his daze, turning around to glare at him. But he’s distracted by the look on Hataye’s face. It looks almost strained, eyes more tense than usual.

“It’s his responsibility,” Kei mutters, crossing his arms defensively.

Hayate frowns, lips parting. The look is so genuine, Kei wonders if there’s something he’s missing. Then the other alpha’s mouth shuts with a snap, and he narrows his eyes, leaning back in his chair and taking on that familiar calculating look.

“You really have no idea, huh?”

“What do you mean?” Kei shoots back, stiffening his spine.

Hayate doesn’t answer, huffing a laugh and sharing a glance with the girl next to him.

Kei stays with Tadashi until the bell rings, both silent and preoccupied with their own thoughts. He reluctantly slides off the desk, and is surprised when he feels Tadashi wrap his fingers around his wrist, as if protesting his departure. Kei frowns, gently shaking him off. But before he can get more than a few steps away, Kei is suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to whip back around and take Tadashi in his arms, to remain at his side.

Kei feels his breath quicken, alarm flowing through his veins. Something is definitely wrong. He shouldn’t be feeling like this. Tadashi shouldn’t be acting like this. The pinch server was clueless, but not an idiot. He feels a pressure building up between his eyes; all he wants to do is scoop Tadashi up and run, run far away to a safe place made for just the two of them, somewhere he can curl himself around the trembling boy, protecting him from harm.

He grits his teeth and forces himself to walk back to his desk, the tug in his gut growing stronger with every passing second.

  
  


He’s fidgety. More than usual. He can’t seem to focus, eyes shifting between blurring in and out of focus and locking onto Tadashi’s face, the bridge of his button nose alluring. He starts to sweat, drops beading on his forehead and neck, and suddenly despite the chill outside the window, he’s too hot, everything’s too hot and smells like jasmine flowers after a morning of cold winter rain, and his pen clatters from his fingers and falls to the floor, and shaking, he bends down to pick it up, and the class goes quiet.

Kei whips his head up, and Tadashi whimpers, just once, and falls over onto the floor, jasmine scent leaking from him, thick and strong, heady like liqueur, as he presents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> urgh. i am probably the least witty person you'll ever meet, so writing the banter between kei and hayate was very difficult, and i most definitely did not do it justice. i cringed so hard when re-reading that bit. anyways, chapter three will be out in a week, and i promise it'll be more interesting! <3


	3. like wispy timber, i catch flame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kei throws his blazer over his head, earning a few curious stares from passersby, but he’s so exhausted he can’t care enough to tug it down. He can’t face it. He can’t face the sky. He doesn’t want to look at it, and he doesn’t want it to look at him and remind him of what a failure he is, how he lost the one thing he wasn’t supposed to lose.
> 
> He wasn’t supposed to lose Tadashi.
> 
> It wasn’t supposed to work like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all i'll say is that i didn't mean to write 2.5k words of porn at the end, my finger just... slipped. i haven't really written smut before, so i'm sorry if it's bad! nevertheless, i hope you enjoy!
> 
> [chapter warning(s): adult language, explicit sexual content*]  
> *if you want to skip the smut, ctrl+f and stop at "He climbs over Tadashi."

_ Bang! _

The chair falls over with a clatter as Kei shoots up to his feet, lips pulled tight over clenched, snarling teeth. From his blurry peripheral, Hayate rises as well, but Kei has tunnel vision, sight warping around Tadashi, limp and whimpering, curled in a ball on the cold tile floor.

Kei is deaf to the shouts of his classmates and his homeroom teacher and forces himself through the sea of desks towards Tadashi,  _ Tadashi, _ who is starting to twitch and groan with pain and confusion.

But suddenly, he feels fire erupt beneath his skull and everything whites out until he’s deadlocked onto two icy, narrowed eyes.

Hayate’s mouth is open in a snarl that reverberates around the room, more deafening than an avalanche, louder than a volcanic eruption. Kei’s eyes open wide in acceptance of the challenge, and his lips part to let out a growl, more feral than human, as he draws himself to full height and stares down Hayate, eyes big and full and golden as the moon.

Their eyes flicker and clash like the boundary between two seas, sizzling waves roiling with heat and tension as the two bodies shriek and graphle, power undulating beneath the surface and refusing to let up, smashing and waging war again and again. The turbulence of their waters splashes and floods the room, lemon and sage thickening, souring, growing more and more powerful as it dominates the other; Kei peels back his lips in a triumphant grin as he takes a step forward. The spell is broken, water crashing down around his ears as Hayate is forced to look away, burned.

Kei wastes no time, bounding over to Tadashi, encompassing him in his arms, gently guiding him up, possessiveness radiating from him in waves of electricity.

“Tsukki,” Tadashi says weakly, tangling a hand in Kei’s blazer.

“It’s okay, Yamaguchi,” Kei murmurs. “I have you.”

“Tsukki,” he repeats, and this time, there’s a plea, something unspoken that makes the tips of his ears hot, a promise of  _ something _ that sparks a flame low in his abdomen.

Kei purses his lips and swings Tadashi up in his arms, bridal style, the other boy crying out and fastening his arms around Kei’s neck. Tadashi buries his face into Kei’s chest, ribcage rapidly rising and falling as the heat consumes him, flesh more red than white.

“Nurse,” Kei says, so overcome with the powerful scent of Tadashi’s heady jasmine that he’s unable to formulate more than the most simplistic phrases. He can feel his alpha slowly taking over, erasing everything human of him, billions of years of evolution dissolving like table salt under the pressure of the most primal instincts to fuck and mate.

His teacher nods, speechless, and without a backwards glance, Kei pushes past him and walks, as quickly as he can, from his classroom.

As soon as they enter the hall, Tadashi starts shuddering,  _ hard _ , and he noses his way into the crook of Kei’s neck and nuzzles it, whimpering.

“Tsukki,” he whines, sultry and high-pitched. 

And then, Kei can smell it.

The honey-sweet scent of slick.

He groans, low and heavy in his throat, and stumbles to a halt. Tadashi slips from his grasp, and then Kei all but falls onto him, knee shoving between Tadashi’s legs and arms caging him against the wall.

Tadashi whines and wiggles against Kei’s thigh, seeking friction against the hard, warm muscle.

Kei curses and slides lower, mouthing hungrily at Tadashi’s neck. His skin is salty and warm, and Kei worries his teeth up the taunt tendon, nipping slightly at the soft flesh beneath his jaw. The smaller boy lets out a moan and tips his head back, giving Kei more access.

Tadashi smells like jasmine brandy, perfumy and strong and intoxicating. Kei could get drunk off of him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice screams at him to  _ get Yamaguchi to the nurse _ , but he finds it so, so hard to listen, so hard to cling to rationality when this is  _ anything _ but rational. And oh, god, he’s been so blind. It was so obvious from the start.

The clinginess, the flowery scent, the way Kei seemed to fall into a daze around him. Kei’s honestly furious at how someone as intelligent as him can be so fucking  _ dumb _ about these things.

And now Tadashi is whining, calling out to Kei, wondering why his alpha had stopped his motions. The scent of slick is overpowering, but Kei knows that he can’t, he  _ shouldn’t _ take Tadashi here. He needs to get Tadashi to the nurse. She’ll help. She’ll help keep him safe.

Groaning in frustration, Kei once more swoops up Tadashi, this time making sure the omega has his legs wrapped around Kei’s waist, his face falling into blonde hair.

“I’m taking you to the nurse,” Kei mutters. “She’ll help you, Yamaguchi.”

“No,” Tadashi moans, “I want  _ you _ .”

“Bear with me,” Kei grits, ignoring the fluttery feeling in his chest, and he once again picks up the pace, walking swiftly down the hallway towards the nurse’s office.

  
  


It’s too long. 

Everything bends and distorts around them, windows wavering and expanding, inflating like balloons as they arch over him. The sills refract white light, sparkling under his vision as the hallway grows lighter with an epiphany of honey glow from the sun, and then the glass panes meet in the middle and stretch and burn until there’s no ceiling and Kei’s met with the all-knowing eye of the sky.

He freezes in place, eyes wide as Tadashi goes rigid in his arms; he may as well be made of stone. The sky glares down at him, displeased at his actions. It widens and draws closer, periwinkle pressing against the fragile glass of the windows like blue syrup, denser than lapis, brighter than fire.

Kei stares at the sky, and the sky stares back at him, eye wide and lashes of cloud flickering and swaying in the tumbling breeze, impaling him like ice, cutting through his chest and ribcage and slashing down his legs, asking him, beseeching of him  _ why? _

He’s so cold, he’s so frozen with fear and he feels like he’s about to shatter into a million fragments of shrapnel when a fire blooms against his chest, and Tadashi’s there, he’s hot and moaning and suckling on the edge of Kei’s uniform, brown hair flyaway and skin pink like the cherry blossom petals that fall around them as they walk to and from school, hazel eyes murky in the dark but light up like spires of golden sunlight falling through green leaves in the fading rays of dusk.

And Kei comes to life. He forces his head down, screws his eyes shut, and lets his legs take him to where he needs to be.

The hallway may bubble and disfigure into geometric shapes around them, the cold whiteness of the sky’s eye may follow him, piercing into his back as he shields Tadashi from the horror, he may trip or twist or stumble but he never lets anything hurt Tadashi, never lets himself hurt Tadashi, and then, when he opens his eyes, he finds himself in front of the nurse’s office.

The hallway is muted, dim and swirling with black and green as the light from the cast-open windows fall just short of him. Kei blinks once, twice, and nothing breaks apart. Nothing shines like a million-watt light bulb, nothing balloons upwards into a triangle, nothing takes on the distinct form of an eye so cold it’s colorless, slashes of frosty cloud framing it as it does its best to tear Kei down to his very last atom.

And Tadashi is warm against him. No, he’s feverishly hot. He’s grinding his hips against Kei’s and moaning softly into his ear, huffs of his balmy breath ghosting over the shell. Kei visibly shivers against him, and tips his head up to rake his teeth over the smooth column of Tadashi’s flushed neck, not trusting himself to bite somewhere that wouldn’t end up in everlasting disaster.

He shifts Tadashi in his grip, noticing slick had leaked through his clothes and onto Kei’s hand, and turns the knob to the office.

He awkwardly shuffles in, Tadashi grinding against his boner and moaning freely. He feels his face burst into about a hundred different shades of red when the nurse, a small beta with soft features, drops her pencil and stares at them with shock in her round eyes.

“He presented in the middle of class,” Kei says stiffly, trying to ignore how Tadashi’s now licking at his neck.

The nurse seems to snap out of it with a little toss of her head, and she hurries to the back of the room, motioning Kei to follow her. She slides back a curtained portion to reveal a bed not unlike ones found at a hospital.

Kei steps forward and loosens his grip around Tadashi, gently lowering him on to the bed.

With a grunt of surprise, he feels Tadashi wrap his legs tighter around Kei’s waist and shoves his head further into the crook of his neck.

“What the—? Yamaguchi, get off,” he mutters, somehow blushing even harder than before.

“No, Tsukki, don’t leave me,” Tadashi whines, muffled by Kei’s uniform.

“Y-Yamaguchi!” he stammers, shooting a glance at the nurse over his shoulder. Her face is slightly amused, and a wave of mortification washes over him.

“Tsukki,” Tadashi whimpers, “I need—I need—” he breaks off with a sob, and Kei feels himself go rigid. 

The scent of an omega in distress washes over him, and he presses Tadashi down into the mattress, overwhelmed with a sudden desire to protect Tadashi, to nurture him and encase him with his warmth and kiss him until the pain goes away.

Kei brushes his lips over Tadashi’s neck and sighs.

“I know, Yamaguchi. But, again, please bear with me. This needs to be done.”

“Tsukki,” Tadashi cries out, painfully, as Kei disentangles himself from Tadashi’s grasp.

He turns back to the nurse, but he can’t meet her gaze. He’s aware that he must look like a mess, skin flushed and shiny with Tadashi’s spit and tears, hair tousled and uniform rumpled and wet around the collar and crotch. Oh, and he’s sporting a massive erection too, and all he wants to do is fuck Tadashi into the shitty nurse’s office bed as if the world’s going to end tomorrow. And if he doesn’t get his dick into Tadashi within the next thirty minutes it might as well be so.

“S-Sorry about that,” Kei stutters, glaring at the ground. 

Fuck. A drop of Tadashi’s slick had leaked onto his shoe.

“No worries,” she says, albeit a bit faintly. “I just need his family’s contact information, and then you can go back to him.”

Kei trails after her, and she takes a seat at her desk, fingers whirring over the computer keys. Kei’s hyper-aware of Tadashi, letting out all these distressing pheromones from his corner of the office, whimpering softly and crying even softer, the only audible words being “Tsukki.”

Kei can feel his heart twist like a knife in his chest, and he wonders for the millionth time that week if he’s a shitty person, this time even more so for abandoning his omega in heat.

“What’s his name?”

“Huh?” Kei asks, snapped out of his daze.

“Can I have his name, please? The omega,” the nurse repeats, clicking away at her keyboard.

“Ah—Yamaguchi Tadashi.”

A few more taps.

“Father… Yamaguchi Masahiko? I’ll call him, hang on…”

“Ah—wait!” Kei blurts.

She pauses, fingers hovering over the phone, shooting him a questioning glance.

“Uh—you should call his mother. She—She’s a better option.”

She frowns, hand still outstretched.

“He’s a primary contact. She’s listed as secondary.”

“Ah,” Kei repeats, fidgeting with his fingers. Tadashi lets out a whimper from the back. His eye twitches.

“His dad… is out of the picture,” he says awkwardly, feeling the need to elaborate.

The nurse hums, her fingers retreating.

“Okay, I’ll call his mom, then.”

Kei closes his eyes and prays to every god imaginable out there that Tadashi’s mom had not decided to go on another business trip during Tadashi’s single most time of need.

The nurse sets down the phone.

“She didn’t pick up,” she says softly, covering the mouthpiece with her hand.

“Maybe she’s in a meeting,” Kei says, stomach dropping. “She’s usually very busy with work.”

The nurse nods. “I’ll call her back in fifteen minutes, then. And if she doesn’t pick up...” her voice trails off.

Kei looks at the floor, and then his eyes travel to the wall, weighing his thoughts on his tongue, shifting slightly.

“I could… take him,” Kei ventures. “I’m his best friend, and my mom works from home.”

The nurse hums and raps her fingers on her desk.

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to do that. My contract states that I’m only allowed to let his legal guardians or caretakers or anyone registered under the emergency contacts pick him up.”

Kei grits his teeth.  _ What bullshit. _

“We’ll wait another fifteen,” the nurse decides, placing the phone back into its base with a plasticky click.

She turns back to her computer, keys rattling beneath her fingers, and Kei immediately hurries back to Tadashi’s side.

The brunette perks up at his presence, having fallen into an unbroken silent whine from where he lay. Tear tracks glitter down his swollen cheeks, blotchily spotted with red and white, freckles almost lost beneath the discoloration. His eyes are pink from crying, and his lips cracked. The scent of slick is overpowering, and yet Tadashi is lying ever so still, not moving or trying to relieve himself like he had done earlier.

“Yamaguchi,” Kei says, words drying on his tongue as mountains’ weight of crushing guilt settled around his shoulders. He’d been so careless. He’s neglected his omega when he needed him the most; neglected him like his mother, left him like his father. Kei feels something prick the backs of his eyelids and he blinks furiously, angry and ashamed at himself as he steps closer to cup Tadashi’s cheek with his hand.

“I’m here,” is all he could think of to say, and Tadashi’s smile, although wobbly and hiccuping, is genuine, and he holds out his arms to Kei, inviting his alpha into his embrace.

  
  


They’re woken up by a jumble of soft words, and then the curtain is thrown back and artificial light blinds him, and Kei gunts and squints, shielding his eyes from the intrusion. He’s vaguely aware that he’s wrapped around Tadashi, spooning him on the small, rickety bed, one arm protectively snaked around the other’s waist.

Tadashi’s scent gradually loses its sleepy edge, and it begins to thicken with arousal once more, but this time it’s ten times more potent, and Kei realizes with a hot flush that his heat has truly begun.

Kei’s about to latch his mouth and suck a hickey to the back of Tadashi’s neck when two hands come down over Tadashi, pulling him up and away from Kei. They both whine at the separation, Kei bolting upright with a snarl on his lips until he realizes who it is.

Tadashi’s mother is looking at him uneasily, pulling her son into herself. She’s pale and trembling slightly, eyes deep-sunk and ringed with purple bruises. She looks as if she hadn’t slept in a year.

“Ah, Kei-kun,” she says.

“Yamaguchi-san,” he mirrors, more stunned than anything. It has been a while since they’ve spoken face-to-face.

Tadashi squirms in her grasp, trying desperately to reach back to Kei. But the alpha simply stays put, unsure of what exactly he should do. Appologize for wanting to fuck her son? Thank her for picking Tadashi up? Wish her good luck with him? Ask if he’s allowed to fuck Tadashi into next spring?

“Ah,” Kei says, searching for something to fill the void of awkward silence.

If he’s really being honest, the one thing he wants to do is rip Tadashi from her grip and pin him down to the mattress. But he feels as if she has something else in mind.

“Thank you for looking after Tadashi,” she says through thin lips, arms tightening around her son as if to protect him. By the way her nostrils flare, Kei can tell she’s trying to detect himself on Tadashi, trying to find out if Kei had touched him in his helpless state. But she’s a beta, and barely has a scent herself. Kei thinks she smells like soap, but it might as well be the shampoo she uses.

“Of course,” Kei says stiffly, eyes trained on how Tadashi’s slender fingers reach for him. He forces himself to stay put.

“Well, we’ll be going, then,” Tadashi’s mother says lightly, and starts to tug her son away with her.

“No!” Yamaguchi cries, “Tsukki!”

It’s all he can do to keep himself from lunging after him.

“Tsukki, please!” Tadashi whimpers, fighting even harder against his mother’s grasp.

Kei doesn't know what to do. Should he join Tadashi? His body is agreeing that  _ yes, yes, take back your omega, he needs you _ , but his mind is reminding him that this is Tadashi’s  _ mother _ , and she has just as much say in the situation as Tadashi himself does, or perhaps even more.

Tadashi slips off the bed with his mother, and he stumbles, grabbing her arm to remain upright. It’s a bit of a funny sight: he’s nearly a foot taller than her. However, Tadashi seems to be able to do little more than stand, legs wobbly and jittery as slick soaks through his uniform.

Kei shakes himself and slides off the bed, making his way over to Tadashi.

He grabs the younger’s arm and Tadashi immediately falls against him, eyes fluttering shut.

“I can carry him,” Kei says, and Tadashi’s mom eyes him suspiciously as though he has some sort of ulterior motive.

“Okay,” she agrees, although Kei can sense some reluctance.

Hopefully, she can’t tell how hard he is.

Kei scoops up Tadashi once more, hands firmly pressed against his ass. Tadashi moans into his collar and Kei wants to  _ die _ because his  _ mom _ is  _ right there _ and, oh god, don’t omegas have  _ any _ filter at all during this time?

Kei, burning up like timber in a bonfire, carries Tadashi down the corridors towards the car parked in the back lot. Before, the hallways had seemed to stretch on forever, but this time it was if they had bunched up like an accordion, the exit gleaming before his eyes far too soon. And all the while, Tadashi’s mom had been stealing little glances at them as if Kei had somehow found a way to fuck Tadashi through their clothes and while they were walking, at that.

Kei gently lays Tadashi down in the back seat, making sure to buckle him securely. Tadashi whimpers again and loops his arms around Kei’s neck, begging him to  _ please, don’t leave me, Tsukki, please. _

Kei’s almost overtaken by another wave of lust, and oh, it’s so strong he’s afraid he won’t be able to control himself, he’s scared he’ll end up fucking Tadashi in the back of the car while his mom screams herself hoarse and tries to pull them apart. He wants to, oh, he wants to so badly because Tadashi smells so delicious and looks so beautiful and he just wants to lose himself inside his tight heat, wants to drape himself across and jackrabbit into him and bite and claim him for the rest of his life—

Kei jerks away at the thought, panicky. No. No biting, no claiming. That was absolutely out of the question. Not until they’ve had the chance to properly talk about it first, and, oh, hell, they’re in their first year of high school anyways, it’s far too early to be thinking about the future like that.

“Tsukki,” Tadashi whispers, voice raw from overuse, “please.”

“Yamaguchi,” he whispers, “I’m sorry.”

He lets his lips brush against Tadashi’s feverish forehead, every so gently, like a the dusty brush of a moth’s wing against a lampshade, and retreats into the parking lot while everything in him, every last cell, every last organelle and atom screams at him to stay, stay by Tadashi’s side and never leave him.

Kei takes a step back as the car roars to life, watching as the fading rays of the sun reflect off the cool gray exterior, watching as his omega,  _ his omega _ , vanishes from his line of sight, the only thing left of him a lingering trace of that sweet jasmine scent.

  
  
  


He considers just calling it a day and walking home. But all his stuff is in his classroom, and if he’s bothered to make the trip there he might as well stay for the last half hour or so. 

Or, something like that, he tells himself as he takes the walk of shame back inside. And volleyball practice is just out of the question. The team would smell Tadashi on him and throw a fit. Besides, the news would travel to them fast enough. He’s sure people could see his erratic flight to the nurses’ office through the door windows.

He lingers in the front of his classroom entrance for a while before taking a deep breath and finally mustering the courage to pull the door open.

He pokes his head inside, and the chatter stops at once.

Every single head swivels like a puppet to observe him, and Kei freezes in place, going rigid with tension as the spotlight is thrown on him, and he feels trapped, trapped, the walls are pressing in and there’s nowhere to hide and—

He’s interrupted by his homeroom teacher, who clears his throat loudly.

“Tsukishima,” he says, “are you here to get your stuff?”

Kei blinks once, and then hums and ducks his head ambiguously. He steps fully into the classroom and shuts the door behind him. It’s still so silent, but Kei’s grateful that at least some of the heads have turned away to refocus on their maths worksheets, or whatever was being taught at that time.

Kei ignores Hayate’s venomous glare, and scoops his stuff from his seat. He knows he can’t stay here. Not with all those eyes, those eyes with the same judgemental gleam of the ones from the sky.

  
  


Kei throws his blazer over his head, earning a few curious stares from passersby, but he’s so exhausted he can’t care enough to tug it down. He can’t face it. He can’t face the sky. He doesn’t want to look at it, and he doesn’t want it to look at him and remind him of what a failure he is, how he lost the one thing he wasn’t supposed to lose.

He wasn’t supposed to lose Tadashi.

It wasn’t supposed to work like this.

He was supposed to bring Tadashi back to his room, let him build a nest from Kei’s hoodies and shirts and pants and socks and bedsheets, supposed to let Kei undress him so tenderly and love him so; supposed to let Kei pick him apart and put him back together again so deliciously he forgot even his own name.

But the universe is cruel and life is unfair, so Kei and Tadashi will be spending it apart, alone, unwanted, and miserable.

  
  


“Kei...”

Kei frowns at her, shifting from foot to foot. His mother smiles timidly at him, worrying her fingers together.

“I… I heard from Chiyo that Tadashi-chan presented today in class.”

Yamaguchi Chiyo. Tadashi’s mother.

“So what?” Kei grumbles. “Let me inside.”

His mother sighs but shrinks back, allowing Kei to slip past her and into his room.

“So, he’s an omega?” she says softly, thoughtfully, “Who would have guessed?”

Kei makes some sort of sound and tries to close the door on her.

“I know you were so worried about that,” she hums, “but I’m glad that everything worked out just fine.”

Kei splutters and blushes, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“W- _ What _ are you talking about?”

His mother simply tips her head to the side, a knowing look in her eyes.

Burning with embarrassment, Kei slams the door shut, burying his face in his hands. The day’s events had worn him down, and he wanted to do nothing more than flop down on his bed and sleep for an eternity. But it was Wednesday, a miserable Wednesday, and he has homework and school tomorrow.

There’s this achy feeling in his gut, and his hands just won’t stop trembling. He’s starting to feel dizzy as well, the edges of his vision clouding over. There’s this pull in his chest so strong, so powerful and he  _ knows _ , he knows it’s for Tadashi, his inner alpha is calling for the omega, his mate. But Kei has homework to do; trigonometry does not care whether or not Kei’s omega is in heat.

But, still. Oh, he’s so tired, his eyes drooping and the sound of rustling leaves outside his window a quiet lullaby. He doesn’t register his pencil rolling from his grasp and falling to the floor with a muter clatter as the dim, pink hue behind his eyelids fades to black, and he’s fading, fading away into a dreamless sleep.

  
  


_ Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. _

Kei’s eyes shoot open, his phone chattering near his head, angrily, insistently.

_ Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. _

Groggily, he adjusts his glasses and checks the caller id. His eyes fly open and he quickly accepts the call.

“Yamaguchi?”

He’s met with a high-pitched whine. He can hear the other panting heavily over the line, and Kei’s whole body starts to heat up because, god, he sounds just so  _ delicious _ .

“Tsukki,” Tadashi moans, “please, please, I  _ need you _ .”

“Yamaguchi,” Kei bites out, trying to suppress a groan of longing, not expecting this turn of events. He accepted the fact that they'd split up, and just assumed all communication would be cut until Tadashi’s presentation was over. But. Here Tadashi was, moaning into the phone as if Kei was there physically fucking his brains out.

“Tsukki,” he whines, “ _ fuck me _ .”

“Shit,” Kei cursed, Tadashi sounds incriminatingly sexy, and he can’t he knows he can’t take it any longer. He’s painfully hard once more just from listening to Tadashi moan his name, and he stumbles around his room, tugging off his school uniform and throwing on a t-shirt and some black sweatpants.

With trembling fingers, Kei scoops up the phone again, cradling it to his chest. 

“I’m on my way, Yamaguchi,” he mutters, feeling the flames of desire licking around his body.

“Hurry,” Tadashi demands like some spoiled princess, but Kei doubles his efforts all the same, bounding down the stairs and tugging on some shoes.

His mother stares at him from where she sits at the kitchen table, sipping coffee even though it’s four in the afternoon. Kei ignores her, and throws open the door and runs out into the street.

It’s not quite dusk, but it’s not afternoon either: it’s the brink of sunset where the sky is still a deep blue but the sun is low on the horizon, rays honeyed and yellow like sunflowers, like gold. Kei huffs for breath as he jogs down the street, his spare key to Tadashi’s house clanking in his pocket besides his phone. He can feel the tug in his chest growing, becoming more powerful as it draws him in like a hummingbird to nectar, draws him in towards Tadashi.

He stops in front of the familiar house, cherry blossom tree more flowers than leaves, orange in the sun’s fading glow.

Kei wastes no time in catching his breath as he approaches the front entrance. He inserts the key and twists it, pushing open the door.

He pulls up short.

Tadashi’s mother is leaning against the wall, blocking the stairwell. She looks over at him, completely nonplussed as if she had been expecting his arrival.

Kei stands, awkwardly, fidgeting, unsure. He hadn’t foreseen this variable.

They stand in stiff silence for a few seconds before Tadashi’s mother sighs and waves him in.

Kei slowly removes his shoes, unsure of what is to come. Would she chew him out and then kick him to the curb for trying to fuck her son? Or would she sit him down and call his mother and tell her exactly what he’s about to do? Because, clearly, she had anticipated this.

Once Kei has joined her around the kitchen table, she sighs again and props her cheek up with a palm. She observes him for a few seconds, Kei rigid and self-conscious under her unwavering stare.

Tadashi’s mother closes her eyes.

“You’re a good kid, Kei-kun,” she murmurs, eyes blinking open. They’re hazel and almond, so similar to Tadashi’s. But they’re lacking the softness that his have, and they’re sharp like a hawk’s.

She glances down at her trembling fingers.

“I don’t know too much… about any of this,” she admits. “I’m a beta, his father is a beta, and my whole family are betas as well. I was shocked when he presented as an omega, and I’ll admit, I know next to nothing about his… heats, or anything about caring for an omega son.

“But I thought I was doing the right thing, keeping you two from each other. I don’t want my son losing his virginity when he’s only sixteen and on the eve of his first heat. I wanted to protect him, I guess. I wanted him to have a first time that he was fully aware of, consensual and, well,” she breaks off, blushing. “But I guess he’s different than me. He can’t have what I had.

“You know,” she says, sadly, “I had to listen to him cry out for you for hours, and that’s when I realized I know nothing about him. I thought I was protecting him from getting hurt, but it looks as if I’m the one causing harm.”

She grimaces, “So. I knew you were probably going to come around anyways, so, here, I ran out and got these…”

She shuffles around in her bag before withdrawing her hand. Kei flushes crimson.

She slides the package of heat condoms over to him, and Kei slowly picks them up, testing their weight in the palm of his hand.

“So, please,” she whispers, tears filling her eyes, “take good care of him. I couldn’t have asked for a better alpha or friend for Tadashi, and I don’t want him to be in pain for any longer.”

Kei is at a loss for words. All he can do is nod, dumbfoundedly, as she gets up.

“I’ll be gone for the night,” she says thickly, “I’ll check back on you two tomorrow, if that’s okay…?”

Kei just nods again, stunned. He hears the garage door click shut after her. And then it’s as if some invisible haze has lifted from him because everything whirls and rushes at him, and he’s suddenly aware of all the sounds and colors of the house, and of the  _ smells, _ of  _ Tadashi’s smell, _ cloying and thick and sweet and delicious, so tempting and making his head spin. It smells so sweet, so intoxicating, and Kei wants to find its source,  _ needs _ to find its source, and he clenches his fist around the condoms and races up the stairs, two at a time, to reach his mate.

He bursts into Tadashi’s room and the smell is about a hundred times stronger, and reeling back, Kei nearly passes out. Once his eyes adjust to the dim lighting, he can make out a quivering mound on Tadashi’s bed.

“Tsu...kki…?” Tadashi rasps.

Kei licks his lips.

“Yeah, it’s me,” he says, unable to keep the longing from his voice.

Tadashi lets out a rusty purr, and the lump of fabric on his beds shifts. Kei quietly closes the door after him, and he approaches Tadashi with caution as if the omega would pounce and attack at any moment.

Tadashi has never looked worse: he’s completely flushed crimson like the roses that dapple his front porch, skin shiny with body fluids, hair matted and black with perspiration, eyes half-lidded and exhausted, red from crying and pupils blown wide. Kei drops to his knees in front of him and pulls his best friend into himself, drinking in that sweet, intoxicating jasmine scent that pours from his neck.

“Ngh,” Tadashi whimpers, tilting back his head, panting.

Kei takes the invitation, brushing back Tadashi’s hair to nip at his neck, sucking dark bruises on the sweaty skin.

Tadashi moans, wanton and high-pitched, as he fists his hands in Kei’s hair.

“More,” he demands, pressing Kei into himself.

Kei is very happy to oblige, moving down Tadashi’s flesh to bite his collarbones and the junction between his neck and shoulder. But it’s not enough for Tadashi, and he whines again, pulling Kei up to his face.

The kiss is surprisingly gentle for how far gone Tadashi is, and it leaves a lingering, numbing buzz on his lips when he moves back. Kei gets a good look at his eyes, pale brown against teary hazel. Then, the omega presses forward, and they meet again. This time, Tadashi parts his lips and Kei thrusts his tongue inside, stroking the wet, hot cavern of Tadashi’s mouth. The kiss turns heated and sloppy, and Tadashi moans through it when Kei sucks on his tongue. It’s disgusting and filthy with the strokes of their tongues against each other, and god, Kei loves every second of it.

He climbs over Tadashi and throws off his t-shirt, and the boy under him coos at the sight of his bare chest. Kei doesn’t waste a second, practically ripping Tadashi’s uniform shirt off of him, revealing the sweaty, fluttering expanse of his abdomen.

He leans down and licks across the hickies blooming along his collar bones, and bites his way down to a perky, dusty brown nipple. He takes the nub in his mouth and rolls it between his teeth, Tadashi gasping and going rigid in his touch.

Kei bites it hard, teeth piercing through the areola, and Tadashi lets out a high, fluttery keen that spears through Kei’s heart and goes straight to his dick.

Kei rasps his tongue across the nipple, soothing the sting, and bites his way down Tadashi’s quivering stomach and to his thighs. God, does he have freckles everywhere? Kei tugs the covers from Tadashi’s legs and nearly faints when he discovers Tadashi had already forgone the pants, his boxers absolutely drenched with slick.

The outline of his straining dick is prominent, and Tadashi whimpers, urging Kei to hurry up because even though what he has now is wonderful, it’s just not enough.

Kei slowly peels back his underwear and flings it somewhere, and Tadashi’s small, hard cock bobs up in front of him. Right away, Kei can tell he hadn’t touched himself at all because it’s this unhealthy, irritated purple color that makes his insides clench up with alarm.

“Yamaguchi,” he breathes, still staring at his dick, “did you touch yourself?”

Tadashi closes his eyes and shakes his head as if the sight of his cock is too much for him.

“Why, baby?” Kei murmurs, a hand coming down to encase Tadashi’s cock.

“Ngh! Tsu—kk—!” Tadashi cries, halfway between a keen and a shout.

“Why?” Kei repeats, slowly fisting the hot flesh. Pre-cum beads in rivers from the tip, running down his fingers.

“Tsukki wasn’t there,” he whimpers, cutting off with a choked sob.

Kei feels the abysmal waters of disappointment and shame wash over him. When will Tadashi stop suffering because of him?  
“Well, I’m here now,” Kei says, leaning over to press a soft kiss to Tadashi’s belly button.

He speeds up his ministrations, hand gliding quickly over the engorged flesh of Tadashi’s cock, pumping it in sync to Tadashi’s whimpering moans. Kei swipes the pad of his thumb over the tip, and with a shout, Tadashi comes hard. Seed spills in watery spurts from his cock as slick gushes from his ass.

Kei groans at the sight, still working his hand up Tadashi’s dick. The purple color is gone now, but he’s still hard, and the scent of slick is so potent it drags his eyes to Tadashi’s ass. The pink rim of his hole is gleaming with wetness and fluttering, begging for a cock.

“M-More, Tsukki,” Tadashi demands. “I need—!”

Kei ducks his head between Tadashi’s creamy thighs and experimentally runs his tongue over the winking hole.

Tadashi yelps and throws back his head, moaning wantonly.

“Tsukki, please!”

Kei licks his hole again, and then grabs the supple flesh of his ass to spread it open. It’s twitching and gaping, slick pouring out of it in rivets. The inside, as far as he can see, is swollen and red and pulsing. Kei groans, and against his better judgement, sticks his whole tongue inside.

Tadashi cries out, fingers twisting themselves into the bedsheets as Kei eats him out. The taste of slick is almost sweet and syrupy, and god, does Kei love it. He strokes Tadashi’s fluttering walls with his tongue, dragging the tip over the ridges and bumps he finds inside.

“Ngh—!” Tadashi shouts as Kei pulls his tongue in and out, fucking his hole, drinking the slick that spills from it. 

Kei widens his jaw and presses more of his tongue inside, mouth so close to Tadashi’s flesh he’s leaving imprints of his teeth around his hole. Tadashi cries out as Kei fucks him more rapidly, muscle darting in and out of the winking hole as Tadashi seizes in pleasure around him.

Pleasure and contentment in mind-numbing waves roll over Tadashi’s trembling legs as he opens his mouth in a silent whine of absolute ecstasy. Kei flicks his tongue up, rubbing the tip over something and Tadashi  _ screams _ and wraps his legs around Kei’s head, crushing his face into his ass.

Kei can’t breathe but he keeps on stroking his tongue over that spot, furiously, over and over again, and after a few hot seconds Tadashi comes so hard from his ass that slick sprays across Kei’s glasses, painting them with his opaque fluids.

Tadashi is left gasping and shaking like a fish out of water as Kei slowly rises, mouth parted in awe. Trembling, he removes his glasses and drops them down on the floor, crawling up Tadashi’s torso to kiss him fully on the mouth.

Tadashi moans around his lips, tasting his own slick on Kei’s tongue. They part with an obscene pop, and Tadashi ruts into Kei’s leg, moaning.

Kei forces his tongue back into Tadashi’s mouth again, his fingers sliding down Tadashi’s ass and tracing the rim of his hole. Tadashi cries out as one of Kei’s long fingers slips inside his loosened rim, and he arches his back as Kei slowly begins to slide it in and out of his glistening walls.

“Tsukki,” he moans, “ngh!”

Kei obliges, and adds a second finger, quickening his pace. He scissors his fingers as Tadashi sobs, making sure to twist them around and hit as much and as deep as he can. Kei curls his fingers, searching for Tadashi’s prostate, and hits it with a scream from the boy beneath him.

Kei mercilessly abuses the ball of nerves, harshly rubbing over it until Tadashi’s unable to form words, trembling violently with his mouth open and eyes bulging wide, tears of pleasure falling from his long, dark lashes.

He scrapes his nails over the nub, and Tadashi convulses so wildly Kei’s nearly thrown off.

“Tsukki!” Tadashi cries, “please, I need—fuck me!”

Kei slips in a third finger, joining the other two in their unrelenting teasing of his prostate. He presses all three fingers, hard, to the walnut-sized organ and Tadashi lets out a high keen, back arching fully off the bed, and comes with another wave of slick from his ass.

Kei’s no expert, but he thinks Tadashi won’t be fully satisfied until he’s bulging with a knot. He kisses Tadashi once more on the lips before sitting back on his ass to shuck off his pants and boxers. He looks down at his cock. It’s neglected and bigger than he’s ever seen it. The mushroom tip is a deep red color, and veins he never knew were there bulged from the sides.

Kei looks over, and Tadashi’s eyes are wide and fixated on his cock, mouth parted and drool seeping from a corner of his lips. Kei snorts and reaches over for the box of condoms on the nightstand.

With a flash, Tadashi knocks them from Kei’s grasp, and they go flying somewhere in the dark room.

“What the fuck? Yamaguchi?!” Kei snarls, and Tadashi cowers in on himself, flinching from Kei’s harsh tone of voice.

“I want to feel you,” Tadashi says meekly, eyes averted from Kei’s.

_ Fuck. _

That does things to his dick and Kei groans, all rationality abandoned.

He pumps his engorged member and lines himself up with Tadashi. Kei brushes a kiss to Tadashi’s cheekbone as the tip presses against his rim, and he slowly guides himself inside.

Tadashi lets out a sobbing moan and his lips twist up into a smile as Kei feeds him his thick cock, inch by inch. When he bottoms out, they both groan, and Tadashi’s arms come up to wrap around Kei’s back.

Kei ducks down and presses a soft kiss to Tadashi’s nose before letting his head hang in Tadashi’s neck, and he finally moves.

The feeling of Tadashi around his dick is indescribable.

It’s so wet and hot and tight and just sucks him in, the glide of his dick over the bumps in his cavern so mouth-wateringly pleasurable with the help of Tadashi’s slick. Kei can feel everything inside of Tadashi, every throb of his heartbeat, every little clench and spasm around his dick.

Tadashi feels like heaven in hell, and it’s easily the best feeling of his life.

And then, Tadashi starts moving against him.

He bucks his hips up to meet Kei’s thrusts, and the alpha groans, teeth sinking into Tadashi’s neck.

“ _ Harder! _ ” Tadashi demands, tightening his hold around Kei.

Kei moans and obliges, quickening his thrusts against Tadashi. The sounds that emanate from them are just obscene; flesh slapping against flesh, the wet sucking sounds of his dick as he rams in and out of Tadashi, the wanton moans falling from both of their lips.

Kei forces his hard length through Tadashi’s swollen walls, spearing into his hot vice. The drag of Tadashi’s ass feels incredible against the veins of his dick, and he can’t stop himself from pounding harder and harder into the boy beneath him.

“Mmm! Ah, yes,  _ yes _ !” Tadashi babbles, legs spasming around Kei’s.

Kei increases the pace of his thrusts, the sensitive tip of his dick catching along the puckering rim of Tadashi’s hole. He can feel every pulse of Tadashi’s walls from his heartbeat, and the undulation of the slick cavern around him nearly makes him pass out from pleasure. The slick squelches around them as Kei fucks the pre-cum and slick in and out of Tadashi’s body.

Kei, suddenly frustrated by the lack of depth from this position, flips them over so Tadashi is seated on his cock. The omega lets out a little chirp of surprise that Kei finds so enduringly adorable, and he wraps his arms around Tadashi, pressing their chests flush, and starts pistoning up and down.

Tadashi moans at the new angle, and Kei can feel his member sliding deeping into Tadashi than ever before. He forcibly bounces Tadashi up and down his cock, penetrating deep into his wet heat and stirring up his insides.

“You like my cock, huh?” Kei growls against Tadashi’s jaw.

Tadashi whimpers and nods, lips mouthing around Kei’s hair. The squelching from beneath them increases as Tadashi’s body lets out another wave of that honeyed slick.

Kei punctuates his next words with forceful jabs of his cock.

“Do you want my pups, Yamaguchi? Do you want me to fuck you so hard your stomach distends with my cum and you go fat with my pups? Do you want me to breed you like a good little bitch?”

“Angh, yes!” Tadashi babbles, “fill me with your pups! I want Tsukki’s pups!”

He’s fairly impressed that Tadashi still knows that it’s Kei under him, it’s Kei fucking up into his delicious ass. He thought Tadashi would have fallen off the deep end some time ago, and with a grin, he promises himself to make it a reality.

Kei flips them again, pinning Tadashi down and ramming his cock as deep and fast as he can into his hole. Kei groans as he watches his dick disappear into Tadashi’s ass again and again, pink hole fluttering around him, shiny with the mess of body fluids around them. Kei can tell he’s close, and wants to finish with Tadashi. He angles his hips down, and after a minute or two, Tadashi shrieks with pleasure.

Kei grins, feral, and mercilessly abuses that spot. His dick punches into Tadashi’s prostate with force, leaving the omega whimpering with overwhelming pleasure beneath him.

“No—no! It’s too much!” he cries, fat teardrops rolling down his cheeks as he convulses. “A-Alpha!”

Kei groans, feeling his knot forming at the base of his cock.

He fucks in and out of him with reckless abandon, Tadashi’s ass clenching and making these obscenely wet noises around him, hammering into Tadashi’s prostate as the younger, with a scream loud enough to rattle the windows, orgasms around his cock.

Tadashi twitches and cries but Kei’s pace is unrelenting, and he fucks Tadashi through his orgasm, refusing to let up on his abused prostate.

“No! N-No!” Tadashi whimpers, eyes rolling up to the back of his head.

“Take it like a good little bitch, you cockslut,” Kei grits, pistoning his member into Tadashi’s abused walls.

Tadashi whimpers from overstimulation as Kei pounds into him, spreading his swollen walls around his fat, hard member again and again. Kei can feel his knot catch on the rim of Tadashi’s hole, and with a bone-shuddering groan, he pushes in.

Tadashi screams as his sensitive walls stretch to accommodate Kei’s swollen length, but he then gasps in pleasure once more as Kei’s knot drags over his prostate.

Tadashi squirms and gyrates his hips, chasing the pleasure of Kei on his prostate. Kei growls, frustrated he can’t move much further, and rubs his knot over Tadashi’s pleasure spot, helping the omega chase his orgasm.

Tadashi’s mouth opens, red and wet with spit and tears, as he comes from his ass for the final time that day. Kei groans as the walls convulse around him, squeezing his member and brushing the sensitive underside, and then he sees nothing, blind and deaf to the world as he releases inside of Tadashi, ropes and ropes of his fertile, white seed painting Tadashi’s walls, filling him up until his abdomen is bloated with Kei’s cum.

Kei collapses, exhausted, on Tadashi.

Beneath him, the omega lets out a sleepy purr as he nuzzles the top of Kei’s head. Kei, finally coming down and regaining enough consciousness to be functional, positions them so Tadashi’s lying comfortably on his chest, still connected to him through Kei’s knot.

Kei lazily rubs his scent glands over Tadashi’s, scenting him, their two aromas mingling to form a pleasant, citrusy, floral perfume.

Tadashi smiles into his chest and sighs, drifting off into a sated sleep. Kei, his own eyelids feeling heavy, presses a gentle kiss to Tadashi’s forehead, arms looping around his omega, as he follows suit and slips into the realm of dreamless sleep, for once, chasing after absolutely nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you skipped the smut, they basically just do the deed and then fall asleep at the end. thank you for reading, and chapter four comes out in a week!


	4. to you, i am starbound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Um,” Kei says.  
> “I, uh,” Daichi says, and to Kei’s increasing dread, his captain looks almost embarrassed, ears turning red.  
> “I, um, I don’t want to do this, but it’s better than the alternative,” he mutters, fidgeting with something in his pocket. He takes a deep breath.  
> “Right,” he says briskly, “sex must always be safe, sane, and consensual, but heats and ruts are an exception.”  
> Kei chokes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, thank you all so much for reading! i am blown away by all the reads this has garnered; i honestly thought this would never get over 500 views, and i'm so thankful for all of you! the ending is a little rushed, so i'm very sorry about that, but there is a 2k word sex scene in the beginning to compensate for that? if you're into that stuff? anyways, i hope you enjoy!
> 
> [chapter warning(s): adult language, explicit sexual content*]  
> *if you wish to skip the smut, ctrl+f and stop at "Everything is going along smoothly" and pick back up at "'What's wrong, Tsukki?'". in addition, there's a short, non-descriptive smut scene later in the fic, and if you want to skip that as well, ctrl+f and stop at "Monday morning greets him," and skip the whole paragraph.

Kei’s aroused by a soft tapping, the sharp and woody noises echoing slightly in the dark, quiet room.

He blinks open his eyes, groggy and feeling very, very sticky. The world around him is in the midst of changing from black to a dim, rosy hue, the young sunlight of early morning struggling to flutter through the heavy hanging drapes that obscure the window.

Kei slowly becomes aware of the small furnace curled up at his side, and he blearily squints down at the mop of tousled, brown hair resting on his chest. Kei sighs and feels a small, content smile curve his lips, and he reaches up to thread a gentle hand through Tadashi’s mussed locks.

The knock on the bedroom door reverberates around the room once again, more insistent than last time, and Kei blinks, looking around for his glasses. Before he can find them, the door creaks open and a stripe of white light falls through the room, crossing Tadashi’s bed, painting them pale in its luminescence.

Tadashi’s mom pokes her head around the corner of the door, tense, but sighs when she sees the two of them curled around each other peacefully.

“How is he?” she whispers, fingers tightening around the doorframe.

Kei hums, glancing down at Tadashi. The omega’s eyelashes flutter like dove wings in the low lighting. 

“He’s doing okay, I guess. Could use some food and water and—” he cuts off, blushing. 

_ He could use a bath. _

Tadashi’s mom nods. “I’ll get you two some breakfast and something to drink, then. And then I guess I’ll get going…?”

Kei nods, and she seems satisfied. With a backwards glance, the door clicks shut behind her.

Kei sinks back down into the mattress, suddenly remembering where his glasses were and what had happened to them, flushing red as he hoped Tadashi’s mom wouldn’t pay them any mind. Just the thought of her knowing he’s fucked and will continue fucking Tadashi to hell and back is mortifying enough. He’s halfway certain not even  _ he’s _ fully accepted it, a part of him is still in denial.

Kei wraps his arms around Tadashi and closes his eyes, content to doze a few minutes longer before he’d have to face the exhaustion of the coming day.

Kei muses that perhaps a lot of alphas would kill to be his place, having an omega in heat all to himself. But frankly, caring for Tadashi in this state is tiring, and he’s never really had that high of a libido in the first place. Of course, he’s not about to pass him up to any other alpha—Kei would probably murder anyone who even mentions that.

He lets his body sag, exhausted, and lets the serenity of the sleepy morning lull him into a light drowse.

  
  


He’s aroused from his doze by the sound of Tadashi’s mother entering the room. Kei blinks tiredly, the rustling of her clothes close to his ear as she places something with a muffled clack on Tadashi’s nightstand.

“Hmm?” he mumbles, still slightly disoriented.

“I’ve brought you two some breakfast,” she murmurs, leaning over to lightly rustle Tadashi’s hair. 

The omega stirs at his mother’s touch, eyes opening slowly and sleepily, lashes gummed together with miscellaneous body fluids.

“Mom?” he whispers hoarsely, blindly reaching out.

Tadashi’s mother grabs his hand and places a kiss on his knuckles.

“I’m here, Tadashi. How are you feeling?”

Tadashi winces and turns to face her, shifting Kei’s arm around his shoulder.

“Um, I’m okay, I guess, for now. Can’t say that’ll be the case later.”

She chuckles lightly and swoops down, planting a kiss on his cheekbone. 

“I’ll leave you two alone, now. I’ll be back this evening, okay?”

Kei and Tadashi nod, and they watch her exit the room. Tadashi rolls over, snuggling into Kei’s chest with a small smile.

“Hi, Tsukki,” he whispers.

Kei grunts in response, brushing his lips over Tadashi’s hair. They lay there for a few minutes, basking in each other’s warmth and finding solace in the quiet morning atmosphere. Kei watches the dust motes float in the rays of light that creep past Tadashi’s drapes, winking brightly like stars before fading into the shadows.

“Come on, Yamaguchi. You should eat something,” he finally says, nudging Tadashi with his shoulder.

With a huff, the omega lets him push them into a sitting position, and Kei reaches over him to grab the breakfast tray. The next few minutes are spent in silence, Kei trying his best to eat as properly as he can while sitting in Tadashi’s bed while the other shoves eggs into his face faster than Kei thought was humanly possible.

“Slow down, Yamaguchi,” Kei sighs, “You’ll choke at that rate.”

“Mffnph kuh,” Tadashi replies, mouth bursting with food.

Kei wrinkles his nose as Tadashi visibly struggles to swallow.

“Disgusting,” he says, handing Tadashi a glass of water.

“S-Sorry, Tsukki,” he says, blushing. “I was hungry.”

“Yeah,” Kei deadpans, watching Tadashi start on his fruit, although with less gusto per Kei’s request, “I noticed.”

They both finish, and Kei makes Tadashi pick up the spilled egg bits from his bedsheets before herding the two of them into the shower. Tadashi swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands up with a wince, and glares at Kei when the other smirks.

“Take responsibility,” Tadashi grumbles, and then shrieks when Kei sweeps him off his feet and carries him to the shower, dumping him unceremoniously behind the curtain.

“Turning into the King, Yamauchi?” Kei hums, spraying them with freezing water. “Taking lessons from Kageyama, are we?”

“Eek, Tsukki, cold!” Tadashi yelps, pressing himself into Kei’s side.

Kei snorts, adjusting the temperature. 

“It’ll warm up; be patient.”

Tadashi sticks out his tongue, and Kei rolls his eyes, pushing him under the spray. Once the water had warmed up to an acceptable temperature (which was as hot as hell; Kei knew Tadashi loved to burn his skin off in the shower), Kei squeezed a glob of shampoo onto his palm and started massaging it into Tadashi’s scalp. He melted against Kei’s touch, nuzzling his chest as Kei scrubbed the base of his hairline, fingers slipping through the baby hairs that trailed down his nape.

“Me too,” demands Tadashi, and Kei obliges, bending slightly and letting Tadashi thread his fingers into his hair.

The whole scene is terribly domestic, and a deep ache settles in his chest because although he can pretend he’s above such mundane things, this is exactly what Kei wants: just a normal, boring, every-day routine with Tadashi by his side, doing nothing more than simply existing.

Kei sighs deeply as Tadashi scrapes his nails over his scalp and grabs the shower nozzle, spraying them with its boiling-hot water and blearily watching the sweet shampoo bubbles swirl down the drain.

Everything is going along smoothly until they start with the body soap. As Kei runs his fingers over Tadashi’s chest, the younger shivers and moans at the contact. They both freeze, Tadashi’s face flushing beet-red.

“Tsukki,” he says in a small voice, and he needs to say nothing more because they can both smell it: the sweet and heady scent of Tadashi’s arousal, the promise of a second wave.

Kei growls lowly and runs the pads of his fingers over Tadashi’s nipples, feeling his dick twitch in interest.

“Tsukki,” Tadashi whimpers, grasping onto Kei’s forearms and shivering, “s-stop! It’s embarrassing!”

“Yamaguchi, we’ve gone so far beyond this already,” Kei sighs, nuzzling Tadashi’s hair, “there’s nothing I haven’t seen or done.”

“T-Tsukki!” Tadashi shrieks, going redder than Kei’s even seen him.

It quickly morphs into a moan as Kei slips a thigh between Tadashi’s legs, rubbing the smooth muscle against his bare erection.

“Mmph,” Tadashi complains, face pressed into Kei’s shoulder, tips of his ears practically glowing with embarrassment.

“Let me see your face,” Kei coos, fingers prising Tadashi’s chin from his collarbone.

Tadashi’s eyes are red and already wet with tears, cheeks a very, very pretty fuchsia color, freckles disappearing beneath the blush. Kei smirks and grabs Tadashi’s waist, pressing him against the shower wall and caging him in with his arms.

“So good for me, Yamaguchi,” he leers, and ducks down to capture Tadashi’s lips with his own.

The kiss is wet and hot and messy, Kei practically forcing his own tongue down Tadashi’s throat. The other grips Kei’s back so hard he can feel the sting of the crescent-moon cuts left behind by Tadashi’s blunt fingernails.

Kei hisses and presses his thigh into Tadashi’s groin, the other moaning at the contact. Kei takes advantage of this to deepen the kiss, crushing his nose further against Tadashi’s cheek and bringing a hand up to tangle in his long, soft locks.

“Hngh,” Tadashi moans, trembling in his grasp.

They pull back far enough to take a deep gasp before Tadashi leans in again, pulling on Kei’s neck to smash their mouths together. Kei sucks on his tongue once more before running his lips along Tadashi’s jawline and then down his neck, licking a wet stripe up a taunt tendon.

“Mine,” he growls, sinking his teeth into the junction between Tadashi’s neck and shoulder, a few centimeters above his scent gland.

Tadashi keens and sways into him, limp and pliant in his hands as Kei attacks his neck and collarbones. Kei sucks a dark mark high above the collar line of their school uniform and smirks at the prospect of it on display for all their classmates to see. But they would know Tadashi belongs to him anyways; their mingled scents would say enough.

“M-More, Tsukki,” Tadashi whispers, teeth grazing Kei’s shoulder.

Kei tsks, looming down over Tadashi and pressing him further into the wall.

“Needy, aren’t we?” he murmurs, trailing a hand down his chest and abdomen.

Tadashi keens as Kei’s long fingers wrap loosely around his erection, dick jumping to attention at the slight friction.

“I bet you’re already aching for my cock, hmm?” Kei growls, Tadashi shivering as his lips brush the outer shell of his ear. “You want it here and now, right? You’re so needy you can’t even wait as long as it takes for us to get to the bedroom.”

“Ngh,” Tadashi whimpers, “n-not my fault!”

“I know,” Kei whispers, “but I don’t hear you complaining.”

“T-Tsukki!” Tadashi scolds, eyes wide and embarrassed. “St-Stop making fun of—ah!—of me!”

Kei just smirks and quickens his ministrations.

“Ah, Tsukki!” Tadashi keens, squirming against him. “I’m gonna come!”

“So be it,” Kei coos, roughly swiping his thumb across the head of Tadashi’s cock.

Tadashi comes with a rough scream, spasming around Kei’s hands. The blonde whispers praises against his wet skin, Tadashi hiccuping as Kei strokes him into overstimulation. Slick from his ass gushes down Kei’s leg, and Kei can feel the hot fluttering of his hole against his thigh. He licks his lips, feeling his cock harden and the familiar ache bloom in his lower abdomen.

“I’m going to fuck you until you can’t come again,” Kei growls against Tadashi, and the omega shivers and tilts his head back, a string of drool seeping from the corner of his mouth.

The scent of jasmine is completely overpowering: it’s almost tangible in the waves of steam that swirl around them, satellites orbiting two great, celestial spheres. Kei sighs and presses his lips against Tadashi’s neck, brushing his nose over Tadashi’s scent gland. Kei inhales Tadashi’s sweet scent as the omega purrs against his skin, promising to himself that one day he would make Tadashi his.

He presses one of Tadashi’s legs to the side, hitching his knee around his hip and giving him more access to his ass and dripping hole.

“Take me,” Tadashi whispers, and Kei is more than happy to comply.

He inserts a finger into the slick wetness and feels around, Tadashi whimpering into his chest. Kei prods at his swollen heat, slipping the digit in and out with little difficulty, admiring the softness and firmness of his walls, how loose he’s gotten in preparation for Kei’s knot.

“You feel so good against my fingers, Yamaguchi,” Kei hums lowly, slipping in a second digit.

Tadashi’s eyes flutter, and his mouth parts, irises completely swallowed by his gaping pupils, so blown and dark Kei can see his own reflection in them. His heart twists, and he aches for Tadashi.

Kei scissors his fingers, stretching the wet heat that really doesn’t need to be stretched, admiring the softness and neediness of Tadashi, the boy in him gone, abandoned, overshadowed by his omega, by the rough animalistic side of them all.

Sometimes Kei thinks it would be easier like this. Without the higher mental capacity humans possess, their wants and needs could be communicated much more clearly and effectively. He would easily be able to tell Tadashi how he really feels about him, and Tadashi could accept or reject him in a heartbeat, his true feelings out for play without a second thought in regards to Kei.

But, then, they would lose what makes them human. They would all more or less become the same, personality bleached out, incapable of forming with so few mental functions available. And Kei knows he can’t live without Tadashi. Can’t live without his smile and laugh and gentleness like the first spring rain, compassion like the summer wildflowers, strength like the blazing early autumn sun.

And so he kisses him, long and hard, fingers pistoning in and out of him with fervor, curling in search of Tadashi’s prostate. When he finds it, Kei slips in two more fingers, Tadashi screaming around him as he mercilessly abuses the gland, pads rubbing over it and ripping another orgasm from Tadashi’s overstimulated body.

“Mmn, Tsukki,” he hiccups, squeezing a few stray tears from the corners of his eyes. Kei kisses his cheeks, smearing the tears so they mix with the shower water and wash away softly, without an afterthought.

“Can I stick my whole hand up your ass, Yamaguchi?” Kei murmurs.

“W—What?!” he stammers, eyes wide and cloudy.

“I’ve already got four fingers up there,” Kei smirks, “and you’re so loose around me. Do you think you can take it?”

“Wha—No! No, Tsukki, don’t do it!” Tadashi yelps. “You’ll tear me open!”

“You can take my knot just fine,” Kei hums, “It’s about as big as my fist.”

“Tsukki,” Tadashi pouts, eyes glittering.

“Fine, fine,” Kei huffs, “Although one day I’d like to see you try.”

Tadashi makes a face and leans forward, playfully nipping at Kei’s collarbone. Smirking, Kei withdraws his hand and wipes his fingers on Tadashi’s stomach.

“Ready?” he hums, and Tadashi nods, eagerly.

Kei watches with fascination as the red, inflamed head of his dick slips so easily into Tadashi, groaning as his ass hungrily eats up his cock, the slick softness around him like an endorphin.

He pauses to catch his breath, going a little cross-eyed. God, it somehow feels even better than yesterday. The ridges of his walls that Kei had loved too much were pulsating and rubbing around his cock, the heat impossibly hotter around him, a bit like sticking his dick in a furnace but without the excruciating pain.

“You feel so good around me,” he groans rougly, “So tight and hot, I could come right now, and then fuck you over again while my seed drips from your ass.”

Tadashi moans, nodding enthusiastically and tightening his grip around Kei, drawing the alpha further against him until there’s absolutely no space between their flushed, sweat-streaked bodies.

Kei grits his teeth as he begins the slow drag in and out of Tadashi, dick clamped between the plushness of his walls, struggling to pull out and nearly being sucked back in to Tadashi, as if the omega’s body was protesting his exit.

Everything about Tadashi overwhelmed him, his moans in his ear, his fingernails digging into his back and scratching across his shoulder blades, his slick chest pushed against Kei’s, legs trembling against his grasp, and his ass, oh, Kei feels like he could pass out from it.

He can feel his dick spear through his ass, hot and engorged and  _ stiff, _ Tadashi’s walls pillowy and sliding apart like warm butter. The softness wasn’t without substance; it was so dense, and Kei could really  _ feel _ it around his cock, and it was like heaven against its head as Kei slammed into Tadashi’s vice, bumps rubbing roughly against his sensitive underside and making his head swim with pleasure.

Kei angles his hips up, snapping into his ass with renewed vigor, searching for Tadashi’s prostate. Tadashi spasms with a shout, and Kei grins, repeatedly pistoning into that spot while Tadashi’s mouth gapes with a silent scream.

He can feel the top of his dick slide over it, and he presses against it as hard as he can so that he’s continually rubbing over his prostate, the head of his cock punching across cruelly, stimulating the nerves until they’re on fire.

Tadashi’s lost the ability to form coherent words, reduced to gasping and single, unintelligible syllables. With a particularly garbled shout, his eyes roll back into his head, and Tadashi shakes violently around him, ass convusing wildly as he tries to milk Kei’s erection, tries to coax his seed into his depths. Kei exhales forcefully, moaning, as Tadashi’s walls spasm around him, relentlessly fucking the omega through his orgasm. It feels so good that Kei knows he’s not going to be able to last long, and sure enough, as soon as Tadashi goes limp, he can see the swelling at the base of his dick, a tell-tale sign of his forming knot.

“I’m gonna—ngh—come, Yamaguchi,” Kei grunts, “gonna fill you up with my seed, breed you ‘n make you fat with my pups.”

“Y-Yeah—yes,” Tadashi agrees, moaning wantonly.

Kei adjusts his grip, grabbing the curve of Tadashi’s ass, and the younger complies, jumping up and curling his legs around Kei’s waist.

In this position, Kei feels himself slide even deeper into Tadashi, cock rubbing over parts of Tadashi he’s never felt, each new bump and ridge in his cavity forcing his eyes back in his skull, and he drives his cock into the omega with force, jolting Tadashi, sliding his back up the wall with every powerful thrust.

He can feel Tadashi’s prostate swell against him, and Kei grins, continuing to roughly abuse it until Tadashi’s nearly choking from the pleasure and overstimulation, fingernails scrabbling at Kei’s skin.

The slapping of his balls against Tadashi’s slick-soaked asscheeks is absolutely obscene and he’ll definitely cringe about it later, but at the moment he doesn’t care, eyes fixated on the softness of Tadashi’s abdomen beneath him. A horrible idea comes to mind, and grinning ferally, mind lost and blown into oblivion, Kei presses his fingers into the soft flesh of Tadashi’s stomach and positions his hips up at an extreme angle.

Tadashi lets out a choked sound as the tip of Kei’s cock distends his abdomen, looking down in extreme arousal, fascination, and slight horror. The head of Kei’s dick punches so hard and deep he can see it through Tadashi’s stomach, _ Kei can see his dick inside fucking Tadashi, _ and oh, god, he can feel his knot swell rapidly, and he cups Tadashi’s stomach to feel the hot press of his cock through his skin, Tadashi’s head thrown back and moaning louder than ever as Kei fucks him so hard, so hot, so deep. 

When Kei has to forcefully yank his knot from Tadashi’s walls, he knows his time is up, and he slams inside with as much force he can muster, Tadashi arching his back and screaming, swollen and aching walls forced open by the firm, inflamed thickness of Kei’s knot.

They climax with a cry, grabbing on to one another, grounding themselves, Tadashi sobbing loudly and Kei gritting his teeth, shell-shocked, while the shower hisses around them like a great summer storm.

  
  


And it’s like that for the majority of the following week. Wake up, fuck, eat, shower, fuck some more, take a quick nap, call his parents, maybe fuck, eat again, fuck, and then sleep. Kei’s had his dick up Tadashi’s ass and down his throat so many times he’s memorized every curve and ridge of the two, and he’s fucked Tadashi up against pretty much every flat surface in the house; god, he’ll never be able to stay there again without thinking Tadashi’s moans and screams. 

And any semblance of their old relationship has been washed down the drain; Kei knows that things will never be the same between the two. The thought scares him more than anything.

But he’s never seen Tadashi smile so much.

Tadashi is by no means a gloomy person—he’s usually always chipper and laughing and playful, but throughout that hellish week it was unusual to see him without at  _ least _ a small smile, eyes tired and lips pink and soft.

And Kei loves it. He loves Tadashi’s smile; he’s absolutely intoxicated by it. Especially the sleepy ones, the ones that curve his lips before he’s even fully awake, nuzzling into Kei’s chest and purring contentedly.

And in these moments, he can’t help but to feel a spark of hope, a small pang in his chest that maybe, after this is all over, Tadashi will continue to let Kei pursue him, will allow for them to reach for something more than best friends.

The chance is small, but Kei is willing to take it.

And about five days after the start of Tadashi’s heat, Tadashi and his mother urge Kei to return to school the following day.

“My heat’s practically over, Tsukki,” says Tadashi, blinking up at him with wide hazel eyes, “and you’ve missed enough school already.”

Kei frowns, “But Karasuno allows for emergency days off to be taken for… these types of situations. We’ll both be compensated with extra lessons and review work.”

Tadashi bites his lip. “But still, Tsukki. I think I can survive on my own these last days, and I don’t want to hold you back…”

“Yamaguchi,” Kei says, feeling at loss for words. The small pocket of hope he was nursing this past week trickles through his fingertips like white sand. Tadashi doesn’t want him, doesn’t need him anymore. 

Kei was foolish to think that just because he had helped him through his first heat that Tadashi would want to be mated to him. 

Right. 

He was nothing more than an alpha of convenience.

“If that’s what you wish,” Kei says, dipping his head. He can feel Tadashi stiffen beside him, sensitive and fine-tuned to the alpha, picking up his subtle difference in scent. 

  
  


“What’s wrong, Tsukki?” Tadashi whispers to him, curled up beneath Kei’s arm, head jammed into the side of his ribcage and their legs a tangled mess.

“Nothing,” Kei says curtly, scrolling through his social media feed.

“Tsukki,” Tadashi pouts, rubbing his cheek against his abdomen.

Kei sighs, putting his phone to sleep. He turns to the side, facing Tadashi, and hooks a few fingers beneath his chin. The omega looks up, a question in his eyes, and blushes slightly as Kei rakes his eyes over his face, studying him.

“Nothing, Yamaguchi,” Kei says eventually, “just hormones, I guess, from your heat. I’ve been feeling off ever since it’s started.”

It’s not necessarily a lie, Kei  _ hadn’t _ been feeling like himself lately, but it’s also not the full truth. Tadashi frowns, and Kei can practically see the cogs turning in his head, so he yanks Tadashi up so that they’re face-to-face.

Tadashi’s eyes peer into his, a question glimmering within the depths of his irises, and Kei answers by craning his neck over and pulling Tadashi into his chest, thoroughly scenting him.

Tadashi purrs as Kei rubs their necks together, body going lax and pliant in his grip. Their already intermingled scents strengthen, and the pleasant aroma of citrus blossom fills the air.

Tadashi blinks lazily at him, fingers fastening into Kei’s soft, cotton t-shirt. Kei feels his mouth flood with saliva, and a warm, fluttery feeling blooms in his chest. His nostrils flare, and the boy snuggled against him suddenly looks so beautiful he’s afraid he’ll die.

“For tomorrow,” Kei gets out, heart thumping. “It’ll make the separation easier.”

Tadashi nods, and Kei’s glad he buys it. It’s another half-truth; not another lie, per-se. It’ll ease Tadashi’s ache a bit when he’s not there, but Kei also wants everyone to know who Tadashi belongs to, even before they see him. He wants to make sure that no other alpha or beta will even  _ think _ about courting Tadashi now that he’s presented as an omega.

A small part of Kei chides that Tadashi may not even want to be his and that he shouldn’t be almost forcing himself on the omega like this. But he can’t help it. He supposes it’s the territorial side of his alpha showing.

Even if Tadashi isn’t his, he’ll protect him to the grave.

  
  


Monday morning greets him with a hot flush, Kei groaning as Tadashi eases himself down his length, moaning wantonly as Kei rocks their hips together, grip bruising on Tadashi’s waist. After they come down from their high, Tadashi sighs contentedly and claims he feels his heat break.

“I think it’s over, Tsukki,” he pants, flopping forward and onto Kei’s chest. “Thank god, ugh, that was horrible to deal with.”

Kei hums sleepily, pulling out an arm to check his wristwatch. Gratefully, he notes that it’s still a few hours before school starts, so he has time to get ready and wash the stench of sex from his body.

Tadashi nuzzles into the crook of Kei’s neck and presses a soft kiss to his skin, and Kei rolls over, smothering Tadashi, and they lazily make out for a few minutes while the sun rises behind them, golden rays creeping up Tadashi’s familiar bedroom walls.

“Ah,” Tadashi mumbles as they part, darting in to peck Kei again, “but I think I’ll probably take a few more days off. I don’t feel good enough to go back now.”

Kei hums and then sits up, stretching. He can feel Tadashi’s eyes train on his bare midriff, and he smirks, the brunette flushing scarlet.

“Come shower,” Kai says, extending a hand.

Shyly, Tadashi takes it, and Kei pulls him into the bathroom.

  
  


When Tadashi’s tucked in and slipped into sleep once more, Kei dresses in his uniform his mother had brought over and quietly pads downstairs, grabbing his house keys from Tadashi’s counter. If he’s fast, he’ll be able to grab his stuff and a quick breakfast from home before making his way to school. As he pulls open Tadashi’s door, Kei sees the familiar gray car pull into the driveway, Tadashi’s mom stepping out.

“Ah, Kei-kun!” she exclaims, hurrying up to meet him.

Kei nods at her politely, and she stops before him, fidgeting with her hands.

“How is he? Is his heat over?”

“Yes,” says Kei, “but he requested to take a couple of days off of school to recover.”

“Oh,” she says, waving her hand, “that’s to be expected. I’ve heard omegan presentations are rough.”

_ Yes, and I’ve witnessed one firsthand. _

Her eyes soften as she looks over Kei.

“Hey,” she says gently, stepping forward and squeezing his shoulder, “thank you for taking care of Tadashi. And I mean it. I know I wasn’t very open-minded in the beginning, but… I promise to get educated on these types of things. And I know I haven’t exactly been the most attentive mother… it’s been hard for the both of us ever since his father left… but I promise to take good care of Tadashi from now on, and I expect the same from you, you hear?”

Kei raises his eyebrows and nods. 

“Of course, Yamaguchi-san.”

She gives a tired smile and squeezes his shoulder once more before stepping around him and into her house, the door shutting with a soft click. 

Late April wind swirls around him, sun white and full in the pale pink sky.

  
  


Kei is starting to wish he had stayed back with Tadashi the second he steps into his classroom. He had missed morning volleyball practice, so he wouldn’t have to deal with his team’s hysteria until the afternoon, but he was hoping that the school day itself wouldn’t be so awful to endure; normal people kept their heads down and minded their own business, right?

Wrong. 

All of his classmates’ heads shoot up and swivel to stare at him, puppets with strings attached, and Kei grits his teeth and melts his face into indifference, making his way to his seat. The cluster of omega girls who usually crowd in the back of the classroom are eyeing him like hawks, and Kei blinks, feeling self-conscious of himself.

He straightens his back and surreptitiously makes sure there are no wrinkles in his uniform. Inhaling, all he can smell is the fabric softener Tadashi’s mother uses and his and Tadashi’s mingled scents.

  
  


As the day progresses, he feels more and more on edge, leg jerking spasmodically and eye twitching. There’s a hollow ache in his chest for Tadashi, god, this was such a stupid idea: it’s too soon after his heat for them to be separated, and Kei knows however shitty he feels Tadashi must have it twice as bad.

He feels like a piece of him is gone, a phantom pain in a limb, and he  _ yearns _ for Tadashi, yearns to hold him and kiss him and touch him. He snaps at anyone who tries to talk to him, and particularly strong alpha scents set him more on edge, leaving him shivering with a bloody haze tainting his vision.

The only upside to his day is that Hayate looks absolutely miserable, sulking like a bitch from his seat, giving off a defeated stink, the only scent of his that Kei will gladly inhale. To make himself feel better, from time to time Kei will turn in his seat to smirk at the other alpha, taunting him, watching his face morph from sourness to one of rage. It’s hilarious, and Kei knows Hayate isn’t stupid enough to attack him in front of all their classmates, so he abuses it as much as he can.

But, by the end of the day, taunting Hayate has lost some of its fun, and the looming apprehension for volleyball practice starts to stir in Kei’s gut.

As the final bell chimes, Kei slowly rises from his seat, chair scraping along the hard floor, reluctantly grabbing his bag and trudging down the hallway, dread spiking high in his head and limbs tingling with pinpricks of worry.

The club room is, thankfully, empty, the lingering scents of the second years the strongest. He changes quickly and exits with nothing more than a huff, and with a hesitant pause, steps across the narrow walkway to grasp the edge of the divider, looking out down on the school from the second story of the building.

People are still milling around and talking, their voices bubbling up and popping obnoxiously in Kei’s face, the blonde frowning and turning his head away. It fans the fire in his heart for Tadashi.

He feels so lonely without him.

  
  


The walk to the gym is strangely uneventful. He would have expected Shouyou or Yuu—to Kei, they’re essentially the same person—or any one of the more obnoxious members to inexplicably find him and start harassing him about Tadashi. But there’s no one in sight as he trudges across campus, and he’s left with only the slightly bereft feeling that had accompanied him throughout the day.

Kei pauses in front of the entrance to the gym, taking a deep breath and inhaling the faint and familiar smells of his teammates, scents mingled together to form what is, unmistakably, the musk of Karasuno, something neither soft nor hard, sweet nor sour; the scent of his pack, his family.

With a hand on the cool door handle, Kei sighs and accepts his fate, and pulls open the door.

He’s met with an onslaught scent; ugh, was it really always this strong? Maybe his nose has become more sensitive in wake of Tadashi’s heat.

He looks up, and eleven pairs of wide eyes find his own.

The whole team stares at Kei, and Kei stares back. A stray volleyball rolls off court and bumps lightly against a padded wall. Then, the midget points a finger at Kei and opens its big mouth and screams.

“Tsukishima, you bastard!”

_ Oh no, _ Kei thinks,  _ No. _

Kei tries to pull the door shut, but Shouyou dashes straight towards him and yanks it wide open, launching himself onto Kei, wrapping his legs around his ribcage as he ferociously sniffs around Kei’s head.

“What the hell?” Kei spits, staggering a few wobbly steps back, reaching to grab a pole to prevent the two of them from toppling down the stairs and cracking their heads open.

“You smell weird, Tsukishima!” Shouyou chirps, and Kei’s about to retort that Shouyou doesn’t smell too much better when with vague horror, he realizes they don’t actually smell so different.

Sunflowers, citrus blossom. 

Maybe he’ll stop scenting Tadashi.

“Hinata, you dumbass!” was bellowed with fervor from the entrance of the gym, and Kei could only watch with increasing fear as Tobio yanks Shouyou off, his scrawny limbs flailing around like a sprayed bug, revealing Kei to the rest of their team who cluster around him, faces varying in degree of mischief and smugness.

“So, Tsukishima,” Koushi almost  _ purrs, _ looking as if Christmas had come early this year.

“Tsukki,” Yuu sniffs, pretending to wipe away a stray tear, “ _ nice. _ ”

“Awh, my precious kouhai, you’ve finally become a man!” Ryuunosuke grins, eyes wide and elated, and he lunges forward, squeezing Kei into a ferocious hug.

“T-Tanaka-san,” Kei protests weakly as the other alpha ruffles his hair.

“Tsukki, how was it?” he laughs, Kei flushing bright red.

“Was it good? I’ve heard that—ack!”

Chikara huffs and smacks Ryuunosuke’s head again, pulling on his arm and dislodging him from around Kei’s shoulders.

“Oh, Tsukishima, I’m so proud of you!”

Kei stares at Koushi, who is absolutely  _ beaming. _

“I’m so glad you finally worked out your feelings! Seeing you and Yamaguchi-kun dance around each other was so painful, I had half a heart to tell you two how you felt about each other!”

“I—we—” Kei splutters, but he doesn’t get to finish because Koushi grins, and he and Ryuunosuke step forward to drape their arms around his back (they couldn’t quite reach his shoulders) and forcefully steer him into the gym.

“And now you’re going to tell us  _ all _ about how you finally managed to court Yamaguchi,” Koushi says firmly, eyes glittering playfully as they force Kei down on the bench.

Kei swallows and starts counting down the seconds he has to live.

_ Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven... _

Ginger scent swirls ominously around them, and Koushi squeaks and jumps back, Daichi emerging behind them and coughing into his fist. He smacks his mate on the shoulder a few times before making a shooing motion. Koushi and Ryuunosuke, with some reluctant grumbling, slump away, but Kei knows they’ll definitely be back to bother him as soon as Daichi leaves.

“So,” he says, standing before Kei, hands on hips.

_ So what? _ Kei thinks miserably.

“Uh, congratulations, Tsukishima?”

“Um,” Kei says.

“I, uh,” Daichi says, and to Kei’s increasing dread, his captain looks almost embarrassed, ears turning red.

“I, um, I don’t want to do this, but it’s better than the alternative,” he mutters, fidgeting with something in his pocket. He takes a deep breath.

“Right,” he says briskly, “sex must always be safe, sane, and consensual, but heats and ruts are an exception.”

Kei chokes.

“Don’t look at me like that, you don’t want Yamaguchi to get pregnant,” Daichi sighs.

He slips his hand into his pocket, and to Kei’s horror, produces a roll of condoms. Kei turns beet red and shrinks into himself, wishing for the ground to split open and suck him right down into the core of the earth.

“Practice safe sex,” Daichi says, “ _ always _ use condoms and lubricant, and other forms of contraception if necessary, such as birth control.”

Kei stares at him, dumbfounded.

“Not many people know this, but condoms have an expiration date. Don’t use the expired ones because they’re more likely to break, and use a different one if the wrapper shows signs of being tampered with or the condom itself is torn.

“Putting on a condom is pretty straightforward, but I can demonstrate if you need to—”

“No!” Kei breaks in, “I’m fine, I know—”

“Okay,” Daichi huffs, dropping the pack into Kei’s lap, ignoring how the younger’s face goes stark-white.

“Sex must always be sane,” he says, “so no sex under the influence of alcohol or drugs of any kind. Both of you must be sober and functioning at full mental capacity, but there is an exception for heats and ruts, as I’ve stated before.”

Kei looks at him, eyes dead. He thinks his ears are bleeding, and the sounds of his teammates snickering faintly buzzes around his ears like flies. He wishes, for the millionth time, that he had stayed home today.

“And, of course, sex must be consensual. Both parties must consent. I don’t think I need to explain why that’s the case…?”  
Kei nods ferociously, wanting to be done, just done, with this, he doesn’t think he can take any more, please, make it stop—

“And on to omega and alpha physiology—”

“Um!” Kei interrupts, “yeah, I think I got that, we covered that in health class—”

“Oh,” Daichi says, looking extremely relieved, “okay, well then, um.”

There’s a beat of uncomfortable silence.  
“I guess that’ll be all. Just remember what I said, Tsukishima. I don’t want either you or Yamaguchi to get hurt.”

“Yeah,” Kei mutters, doubting his ability to look his captain in the face for the rest of the month.

“Okay,” Daichi says bracingly, grasping Kei’s shoulder and giving him a little squeeze. “But, congratulations, I really mean it.”

“Uh, thanks,” Kei mumbles, staring at the condoms in his lap. They’re wrapped in silver foil and reflect the glaring gym lights.

“Alright, uh, ready for practice?”

“Sure,” Kei mutters, stuffing the condoms in his shorts pocket. He looks up, and Shouyou pulls a face at him.

He curses his miserable existence.

  
  


“It was humiliating. I wanted to die,” Kei says, sprawled out on Tadashi’s bed, head pillowed in the omega’s lap.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Tsukki,” Tadashi giggles, brushing the short blonde curls out of Kei’s face.

“You’re right,” Kei says, “I didn’t want to die. I wanted to murder everyone right where they stood.”

This earns him a light smack, and Kei huffs and turns his head to the side, nosing at Tadashi’s thigh.

“Mean, Tsukki. I’d miss you if you were sentenced to life in prison.”

Kei smiles, “That’s only if I get caught. Reckon I could get away with it?”

Tadashi makes a soft noise. “You’re clever, I’ll give you that, but not clever enough to murder your whole volleyball team and get off scott-free.”

“I’m wounded,” Kei says flatly, slapping Tadashi’s hip.

The omega squeaks in surprise, and retaliates by tugging on Kei’s hair.

Did you get a lot of weird stares?” Tadashi asks softly, fingering fidgeting with the golden strands. “I know you don’t like people looking at you.”

Kei just hums and closes his eyes, content with the gentle tug of Tadashi’s slender fingers through his scalp.

“I’m tired, Tsukki,” Tadashi says after a while, and Kei can feel him tremble in a yawn.

Kei sits up and throws open the covers, holding out his arms. Tadashi smiles, eyes half-lidded with sleep, one of Kei’s pink sweaters spilling off his shoulder, and falls into him, nuzzling his chest. Kei brushes a kiss across Tadashi’s neck, and he lays them down, switching off Tadashi’s nightstand lamp.

He can feel Tadashi’s breathing slow and even out, the younger drifting off to sleep, but Kei’s mind is still awake and buzzing.

Why was he acting like this?

Why were they acting like that?

Like an old, married couple?

Kisses and cuddling, even after Tadashi’s heat was over?

What exactly are they, now?

Wasn’t he just an alpha of convenience for Tadashi?

To help him through his heat because he was his best friend, the only one he could trust with something as precious as that?

So, why?

Why is Kei so clingy?

Why is Tadashi still so needy?

Why are they so… vulnerable?

Kei’s eyes remain open, staring into the darkness of the night, moonlight creeping up the wall from Tadashi’s shades, ceiling fan turning slowly and wall clock ticking and curtains rustling as the stars above them slide slowly across the sky as if pulled gently by some great, invisible hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! just a heads-up, chapter five may take me a little longer because i'm very, very busy! but i'll promise to have it up in under two weeks. because it's going to be the last chapter of my first long-ish haikyuu multichap, i want to end on a good note, and i know i'll feel very bad if i rush it in any way.
> 
> thank you for sticking with me. until next time!


	5. embark with me through these clear skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He takes a few paces away before accepting the call, knowing the owner of the ID wouldn’t give up until he had gotten what he wanted from Kei.  
> “What do you want, Kuroo-san?” Kei grumbles into the phone.  
> “So,” Tetsurou starts, somehow sounding twice as smug and sleazy through the crackling line than he usually does, “a little birdie tells me that you and Yamaguchi-kun finally fucked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sweats nervously and surrenders hands* that awkward moment when two weeks turns into *checks calendar* s-six months. anyways, long story short, college apps beat my ass, and then i lost motivation. but then my very good friend rhia yelled at me until i finished this, so you can all thank her for chapter five! i hope you enjoy! <3
> 
> [chapter warning(s): adult language, attempted sexual assault, violence]

“Tsukki!” Tadashi calls, drawing out the last syllable of his nickname. “I—oomph!”

“You,” Kei sighs, prising him off his chest. “You… be more careful.”

It’s early morning, much too early for Tadashi to be this energetic; the sun’s still rising, for fuck’s sake. His fingers encircle one of Tadashi’s wrists, and the other smiles at him, cheeks all flushed and eyes squinty and hair flyaway.

“Okay, Tsukki,” Tadashi hums, sidestepping Kei to skip up the pathway towards Karasuno, green backpack bouncing merrily. 

The pale sky shimmers softly overhead, dawn ascending her golden throne, dark forest beneath swaying in tandem to the gusts of wind which carry the scent of wildflowers from the mountains to the east.

Tadashi looks over his shoulder to give Kei a pretty smile before bounding further ahead, the last cherry blossoms of spring rustling as he stirs them from their final resting place on the ground.

Kei sighs, affection welling in his chest. Even Tadashi’s off-tune humming has him enraptured. 

He’s nervous, and he’s sure Tadashi is as well; this would be Tadashi’s first day back at school. Kei’s honestly not worried as to what their classmates would think: they’d all fallen in love with the other during the first week of school, and he’s sure they’ll be doting on him when they get back. The volleyball team, on the other hand, stirs up a pang of anxiety in his gut.

And it’s not as if he’s sure they’ll reject Tadashi; he admits although some members can be  _ extremely _ stupid, no one is bigoted, and they’re all, more or less, good people. What he’s worried about is how Tadashi’s nature might reinforce their misconception that he is weak. Kei’s already fed up with their pitying glances when Tadashi’s serve is intercepted, as if to say  _ better luck next time, you’ll need it _ , or even worse, when he manages to score a point and their faces light up with surprise and wonder, as if Tadashi hadn’t been practicing his float serves for hours after school each week.

It makes him sick. 

If Kei had to say something, it would definitely be that Tadashi was the stronger one of the two.

“Hurry up, Tsukki!” Tadashi calls, bouncing on the balls of his feet, one hand wrapped around a lamppost for support. “You’re going to make us late for practice!”

Kei tches but picks up the pace regardless. When he reaches Tadashi, the other sticks out his tongue and knocks his shoulder into Kei’s, grabbing his hand and tugging him up the hill. 

Kei stumbles, but he lets Tadashi drag him.

  
  


A starburst of tangerine curls hurtles past Kei and flings itself into Tadashi’s arms.

“Yamaguchi!” Shouyou wails, clawing at Tadashi’s uniform, “I missed you so much! I had to deal with Shittyshima and Bakageyama all by myself!”

“Oi, who’re you calling idiot, dumbass?” Tobio snarls from behind Shouyou, grabbing his head and prising it up from Tadashi’s chest.

“A-a-ah, K-Kageyama, o-o-ow!” Hinata stutters, through clenched teeth. “You’re j-just jealous I like Yamaguchi b-better!”

“Hah?” Tobio demands, eyes wide, yanking on Shouyou’s scalp.

“Ouch!” he shrieks, tearing himself away from Tadashi and whirling on Tobio, and the two snarl at each other while Tadashi and Chikara shake hands.

“I could never imagine going through something like that,” the second-year sighs, rocking back-and-forth on his heels. “Makes me feel lucky I’m a beta.” 

Ryuunosuke peers out from behind Chikara. “They grow up so fast,” he bemoans, pretending to wipe away a stray tear.

Yuu pops out from the other side and tells Tadashi that he’s been promoted to kouhai number-one for surviving his presentation, the other omega laughing along.

“I thought I was going to be a beta for a while,” Tadashi admits, “so I was preparing myself for that. I was really surprised when I found out I was an omega.”

There’s not a trace of resentment in his voice.

Kei adverts his eyes. It’s true that Tadashi had been given the short end of the stick in society; he’s not blind to the discrimination omegas face. It’s one thing for him to readily accept it, but to not be bitter over the fact that for the rest of his life he’ll have to fight twice as hard as everyone else to secure equal footing?

When he resurfaces,Tadashi’s greeting the third years.

“Oh, Yamaguchi,” Koushi sighs, embracing Tadashi, “it must have been so awful for you. I remember curling up and crying for hours after it was finally done!”

Tadashi makes a sympathetic noise and entangles his fists into the back of Koushi’s shirt.

“I wouldn’t mind never having another one again,” he mutters, burying his face into the third year’s shoulder.

“Oh, don’t get the wrong idea! You’d be surprised,” Koushi laughs, and when Tadashi flushes, laughs again and lightly pats his cheek.

Daichi places a hand on Tadashi’s back, and the brunette exchanges smiles with Asahi. 

“What a nice scent you have,” Koushi sighs, “it’s so sweet, like oranges!”

“Ah,” Tadashi blushes, “well, it’s kinda a mix between mine and Tsukki’s—”

“Gah!” Hinata interjects, breaking away from Tobio’s headlock, “Even if it’s because of Yamaguchi, I still can’t believe that Tsukishima would ever make such a nice scent—”

Koushi karate-chops the back of Shouyou’s head and Yuu laughs hysterically from behind.

The sharp scent of winter rain causes Kei to jerk his head up, eyes meeting Tobio’s dark ones as the setter makes his way to his side.

“Yes, your highness?”

Tobio just rolls his eyes at him. They’re silent for a minute, observing the antics of their team. And Kei can respect him a little, at least, for not losing his head over Tadashi’s presentation. 

“You don’t deserve him, you know.”

Kei starts, side-eyeing Tobio. The setter is staring straight ahead, face impassive. The blonde huffs, a pang rolling through his chest.

“No one deserves him,” Kei murmurs.

Tobio scoffs at that. 

“That’s just coward’s play. Asshole.”

Kei just snorts and rolls his eyes again. 

“Whatever you say, your majesty.”

Tobio lets out a half-hearted growl before lumbering away, probably to go set some volleyballs with the same mental capacity as him.

Kei stares after him, a lingering feeling in his chest that he can’t quite describe. 

Yachi Hitoka makes a grand entrance, eyes teary, and she runs towards Tadashi, the other grinning and wrapping her in a hug.

Kei makes his way over to Tadashi’s side and greets Hitoka with a nod.

“Y-Y-Yamaguchi-k-kun!” she stutters, “I-I don’t know what t-to say?! It’s good t-to see you a-again!”

He laughs, shaking his head. 

“It’s good to see you too, Yacchan! I’m glad they haven’t murdered you yet!”

“Huh—what?! Someone’s trying to m-m-murder me?!”

“Wait, w-what?!”

“Huh?!”

Kei sighs as they stumble over themselves. He loops an arm around Tadashi’s shoulders, leaning on the shorter boy.

“Both of you, calm down, no one’s getting murdered,” he drawls.

“Eep, Tsukishima-kun!” Hitoka squeaks.

Kei raises an eyebrow at her.

Then, the shoulders under him start to shake, and Kei draws back. He’s worried that Tadashi’s crying; had the team’s chaos finally gotten to him? but then the brunette’s snickers reach Kei’s ears, and he sighs, yanking Tadashi until his back is flush against his chest.

“Yamaguchi,” he sighs, “what am I going to do with you?”

The younger’s face is flushed, and he turns his head away from Kei’s, face puckered into a cute pout.

“If you two are quite done,” Daichi calls from over where half the team stands on the court, stretching, “you can come join us.”

His tone is stern, but amusement quirks his lips.

  
  


“Yamaguchi-kun!”

They’re met with unparalleled enthusiasm from their classmates. Well, at least, Tadashi is.

“Ah, hello, Ai-chan!” Tadashi says brightly, encasing her slender hands in his own.

Kei looks down to where they’re connected; although they’re both omegas, her fingers are much more thin and delicate. Tadashi’s hands are still large and boyish to him, fingers calloused from volleyball and nails short and bitten.

Tadashi’s swarmed by the omegas in their class, the demanding details about his bond with Kei. He’s always been very friendly, much more so than Kei, and to no one’s surprise many of their classmates had taken a great liking to him, even before his presentation. Kei can’t help but to compare Tadashi to when he was younger, almost too scared to speak to anyone besides Kei in fear they’d hurt him like his bullies did.

A few murmured greetings and congratulations are sent Kei’s way by a few alpha and beta boys, and he simply nods and accepts them. Why does everyone keep on congratulating him? He hadn’t done anything worth praise.

A rough shove from behind has Kei stumbling, grasping the edge of a desk to right himself.

Hayate sneers at him, eyes cold and angry, skin more sallow than before, but perhaps that was only his imagination.

“Can I help you?” Kei says cooly, crossing his arms.

Hayate spares him an offhand glance.

“You can help yourself mind your own business.”

His tone is light, but each word is vicious, a knife in Kei’s ribcage.

He narrows his eyes and turns his back to the shorter alpha, thankful, for once, for the bell’s tinny chime.

“Did you hear what Suga-san said he’d be pursuing in university?”

“Hm?” Kei hums, blinking at Tadashi.

Kei distractedly watches Tadashi pop a piece of sushi in his mouth, chewing and swallowing before answering Kei. The room is nearly empty, most of their classmates spending their lunch hour outside in the bright sunshine.

“After practice, a few weeks ago. He said he’d like to pursue a degree in education.”

Kei huffs. “Education in what? Is he thinking of being a college professor?”

“Hm,” Tadashi says, “I think he said he wanted to work with little kids. Like an elementary school teacher.”

“It suits him,” Kei replies. “He seems like he’d be the guy to help lost kids find their parents himself instead of just turning them over to mall security or whatever.”

Tadashi laughs at this and elbows Kei. “That’s it? He’s kind when he wants to be, and he’s also really encouraging and supportive too.”

“Yeah,” says Kei, “and he also backhands Asahi-san when he’s being negative and punches Daichi-san in greeting.”

“Tsukki,” Tadashi protests.

Kei allows a small smirk to slip past his lips.

“I know, I know. He’ll be a good teacher; he’s a good man.”

“What about you, Tsukki? Do you know what you want to pursue?”

“In university?” Kei asks, a little surprised.

“Well, ah, yeah?”

“That’s a little far away,” he says softly, “I don’t really know yet.”

“You could major in archeology, or something,” Tadashi says. “Study dinosaur bones until you look just like them.”

Kei snorts and tugs on a lock of Tadashi’s hair, the other yelping and swatting at his hand. As Kei chuckles, Tadashi hums happily and leans into him, resting his head on Kei’s shoulder. It’s reminiscent of before, when Tadashi was on the verge of presenting, and Kei, denser than molasses, didn’t know any better. But now there’s no cherry blossoms fluttering through the window, and the sun is hotter and brighter, sunlight white and strong.

Kei flashes a glance over to Hayate, crowding a corner with a couple other alpha boys. Their eyes meet, and Hayate is the first to look away.

“I’ve got to pee,” Tadashi says suddenly, and Kei turns and gives him a  _ look. _

“Who are you, Hinata? You don’t have to announce it to the whole world,” he sighs, and Tadashi blushes and shrugs.

“I’ll be right back, Tsukki!”

“Sure,” he grumbles.

Tadashi leans in to nuzzle his neck before standing up and stretching, brushing down his uniform. 

Kei stares after him as he makes his way out the door, Tadashi sparing him one last glance over his shoulder before disappearing into the depths of the hallway.

Kei sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. He should really get his act together and confess soon. There’s no point in drawing it out any longer; the agony of the unknown is torture for him. He desperately wants to know if what he has is really his or not.

Ignorance is bliss? He wants to spit in the face of whoever coined the term. Being left in the dark is painful.

Hayate suddenly stands up, and Kei’s eyes fasten to his movement. He seems to murmur something to his group before sulking towards the open door. Kei sets down his chopsticks, frowning slightly. He doesn’t know why, but something doesn’t sit right with him, gut twisting nervously. He stands up, slowly making his way out of the room.

He’s met with a nearly empty hall, save for the few students languidly roaming the corridors during their lunch break. He squints, momentarily blinded by the white light streaming through the large hall windows, bright spots dancing in the corners of his vision. Kei rubs his eyes and catches a flash of gold turning the corner to his left.

_ This is ridiculous. You’re going to get caught and look like a fool, and then you’ll have to battle for your dignity with Uneo. _

He swiftly starts towards Hayate, refusing to let up as people slip past him. Can’t let up as the polished tiled floors lead him to one corridor and to the next. His brain insists that this is stupid, but the longer he walks, the more insistently his gut tells him something is  _ wrong _ . 

He needs to get to Tadashi.

He rounds the next corner, and the hallway is deserted. He inhales deeply, trying to scent out Hayate. He’s met with a jumble of dull scents, and frustrated, he growls, clenching his fists. He resumes his brisk pace, swinging his head from side-to-side, peering into the deserted classrooms that line the hall. Suddenly, he gets a whiff of that sour scent, and Kei doubles his pace, half-running as he follows it to its owner.

He passes by the first-year college prep classes and nearly runs into Shouyou, who is just emerging from one with whom Kei assumes to be his friends.

“Wah, Tsukishima!” he exclaims, pointing obnoxiously at Kei, “What are you doing here?!”

“Oi, have you seen Yamaguchi around?” Kei snaps, towering over Shouyou.

The omega is unintimidated, and he lifts a finger to his chin, humming.

“I don’t know, I don’t think so? Why, what happened?”

“Never mind,” Kei growls, shoving past him to continue his chase.

Hit with an afterthought, he whirls around.

“If you do see him, don’t let him out of your sight and tell him to text me!” he calls, and Shouyou, slightly bemused, nods at him.

Hayate’s scent is growing stronger, and Kei fumbles with his phone, dialing Tadashi’s number.

“C’mon, c’mon, pick up, you idiot,” he hisses through grit teeth, heart fluttering anxiously.

The line runs dead, and Kei curses. He hits call again, and rounds the next corner before freezing in his tracks.

There’s a new scent in the air, faint but fresh, and it raises the hair on the back of his neck, mouth going dry and stomach roiling.

It’s omegan fear scent, and it belongs to Tadashi.

“Fuck!” Kei curses, flat-out sprinting down the hall.

“Yamaguchi!” he calls, whipping his head around, trying to take in every classroom, every corner of the hall.

“Yamaguchi!” he repeats, voice cracking.

He skids around a corner, and for the second time that day, comes to a complete halt. 

The world slows to a stop around him, frozen in time, and he takes in the scene, horror rising in his gut, hot and thick in his throat, and he thinks he’s going to vomit. 

Hayate has Tadashi pinned against the wall, Tadashi pale and yet defiant, teeth snarled angrily, fists buried in Hayate’s uniform, struggling to shove the other away. Hayate has a leg shoved roughly between Tadashi’s, a forearm caging him in, face too close.

Kei lets out something between a snarl and yell as he launches himself towards Hayate. He reaches out and yanks the collar of Hayate’s uniform back, tearing the other alpha off of Tadashi.

He misses the surprised cry of “Tsukki!” as he rams his fist into Hayate’s face.

Hayate makes a choked sound and twists himself away from Kei, staging a few paces before reaching back and socking a fist into his gut.

“Motherfucker!” Kei gags as Hayate spits a clod blood and saliva onto the floor. “Pieces of shit like you deserve to be castrated.”

“What’re you gonna do, fuckin’ bones, huh?” Hayate taunts. “Stab me with your femur?”

Kei sneers and flies towards Hayate, the other side-stepping him and slamming an elbow against his jaw. Kei winces at the white-hot pain that flares from the point of impact, and he stumbles, bracing an arm against the wall.

_ Fuck! _

From the corner of his eye, he sees a flash of movement, and he whips away, Hayate’s leg cutting through the air, narrowly missing him. Hayate lashes out again, and Kei wraps his arms around his foot, tugging sharply. The other alpha falls with a grunt to the floor, and Kei promptly kicks him in the stomach.

“Fuck!” Hayate spits, curling in on himself.

“Look at you, you fucking dog,” Kei pants, “you deserve to be down there, at my feet, at the feet of any fucking decent human being.”

“Don’t pretend you’re so much better,” Hayate hisses back, “you only picked up Tadashi because I was fucking inconveniencing you—!”

Kei kicks him again, ignoring Hayate’s grunt of pain.

“The fuck’re you even talking about? Already maxed out your mental credit card, huh?” Kei says, rearing his leg back.

Hayate’s leg shoots out, knocking into Kei’s standing leg, and he falls with a hard  _ oomph  _ to the ground, Hayate scrabbling up, and with a thrill of fear Kei realizes their positions have been reversed.

“Don’t you fucking talk,” Hayate breathes, “you know  _ nothing _ about me, fuck!”

“Yeah,” Kei says, “I know shit about you. I know you’re a disgusting perverted  _ lo _ —”

“Shut the fuck up!” Hayate snarls. 

“I’ll fucking say what I wa—!” Kei’s response is cut as Hayate rams his foot into Kei’s face, glasses flying off and skittering across the ground.

Kei cups a hand over his throbbing face, eyes watering and leaking down his cheeks, and he tastes iron in his mouth.

Only then he realizes Tadashi’s scent is gone.

_ Good. At least he’s not going to be hurt by Hayate. It’s going to be okay now. _

Kei cries out as Hayate sinks his foot in his abdomen.

“That’s for earlier, fucker,” he breathes, Kei curling in on himself, holding his stomach.

“So now what?” Kei huffs, squinting at Hayate through his blurry vision, “You gonna kill me?”

“If it comes down to that,” Hayate says, “I won’t hesitate.”

He retracts his leg, and Kei closes his eyes, bracing himself for the blow.

A dull thud reverberates in his throbbing head before Hayate drops over him, body heavy. Kei makes a confused and panicky sound, hurriedly squirming out from underneath, kicking at the other alpha’s limp form. A hazy figure collapses to its knees from behind Hayate, and Kei’s rendered absolutely bewildered until a familiar and comforting scent wreaths around his head.

“Yamaguchi?!” Kei gasps, squinting against the light.

Tadashi makes a small noise, reaffirming him, and Kei’s eyebrows shoot up.

“What the—? Yamaguchi, that’s you? What the hell happened?”

He tries to stand up, and winces, reaching a hand to cradle his jaw, and then his temple.

“Tsukki,” Tadashi says, breathlessly, and something falls to the ground with a heavy smack.

Tadashi’s trembling hands reach towards him over Hayate’s still body, cupping his face, and he pulls their foreheads together. His face is flushed, moisture glistening on his skin.

“Yamaguchi, what? I—I don’t?”

“I got him,” Tadashi breathes, “with a textbook. Hit him on the back of the head, and he went down like a baby.”

Kei is taken aback. He glances towards the ground and—yes, there it is—splayed to his right, face-down, a textbook lies with its cover darkened at a corner. He can’t believe this. Tadashi, kind, quiet,  _ gentle _ Tadashi bludgering the back of Hayate’s head so hard he falls unconscious?

“You,” Kei breathes, “that was fucking insane, you son of a bitch.”

“Well,” Tadashi laughs lightly, “I’m your son of a bitch, right?”

“Hell yeah,” Kei says, and he pulls Tadashi into him.

Their lips barely touch for a second before Kei is wincing, recoiling, and they’re staring at each other, wide-eyed and flushed, and Kei snorts, and then chuckles, and then he’s laughing, loud and liberated, shoulders shaking.

Tadashi watches him with wide doe eyes, utterly bemused.

“You,” Kei hiccups as he comes down, “You fucking  _ saved _ me. And I thought I was the one saving you!”

“Hayate’s right, though, Tsukki’s so skinny, how could he save me?” Tadashi teases lightly, “If I studied you hard enough, I could pick out each one of your two-hundered and ten bones, and then draw an anatomically-correct—”

“Okay, okay, I get it, smartass,” Kei grumbles, pulling Tadashi into himself, the other’s hands resting, a warm welcome weight, on the back of Kei’s blazer.

“Tsukki, doesn’t your face hurt?”

“Hurt is an understatement,” Kei grumbles, pushing Tadashi back to let the other get a good look at his face.

“Tsukki’s going to look like Van Goh’s  _ Starry Night _ tomorrow,” he snickers, and Kei gives him an affronted look.

“When did you get so snarky? Next time, then, you can fight for yourself.”

“You should appreciate my efforts,” he pouts. “All the classrooms in this hallway were locked; I had to run all the way to the east wing.”

Kei sighs and reaches up to ruffle Tadashi’s hair. He winces at the jarring movement, and Tadashi stiffens under him.

“I saw your glasses over there, by the way,” he says, “but one of the lenses is completely busted.”

“One eye is better than none,” Kei grumbles.

“Okay, Tsukki!” Tadashi says. “Hang on.”

Using the wall and Tadashi’s shoulder, he manages to stand up and stick his glasses on his face, wincing as they knock against the bridge of his nose.

“Can you walk?” Tadashi questions, and Kei takes a tentative step forward before his leg gives out, and he wobbles precariously for a moment before Tadashi presses up against his side, stabilizing him.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Tadashi sighs, and he loops one of Kei’s arms around his shoulder, and they painstakingly make their way to the main hall.

“Are we really just going to leave him there?” Tadashi says.

Kei snorts.

“He deserves it.”

Tadashi hums, and Kei’s head falls into the crook of his neck. The sunshine paints the back of his half-lidded eyes red, and Kei smiles, the delicate scent of citrus blossom lulling his pain to a soft whisper. 

  
  


Fragrant spring wind folds and ripples the fabric of Kei’s school uniform, sky a deep azure-blue, blending to a near purple above his head. He closes his eyes as a particularly sharp gust sends leaves swirling high above his head, pale green contrasting against the empyrean above.

Tadashi walks at his side, pace shyly slow to match Kei’s ungraceful hobbling, crutch clacking against the floor with every other step.

They’re out of school, final bell having rung a few minutes ago, the same beta nurse they encountered a couple of weeks ago waving them out as soon as the chime sounded, looking absolutely exhausted with their antics.

“Never in all of my days,” she had sighed, “have I seen such a pair you two make. All the trouble you cause for me, god bless my soul.”

Tadashi had laughed nervously while Kei just rolled his eyes, pale sunlight casting a warm glow over their backs. 

Students stream past, parting around them like shimmering silver fish, minnows in a stream. Kei is absolutely unsurprised when Shouyou pops out of the crowd, large brown eyes rounded in surprise and fixed on him.

“You know,” Kei says, testily, “it’s rude to stare.”

“What happened to  _ you _ ?” Shouyou says, ignoring his jab. “Lose a fight with a bear?”

“Oh, yeah,” says Kei, “It was big and hairy and looked a bit like your mo—”

Shouyou makes an indignant sound, and Tadashi flicks Kei’s forehead, offering a placating smile to the offended party. 

“Sorry, Hinata, but I think Tsukki and I are going to have to skip practice today.”

Shouyou rolls his eyes and supplies a  _ well duh _ , eyes still fixed on Kei’s half-shattered glasses. “But really, what happened?”

“Oh, um, I’ll tell you later—”

“You will absolutely not,” Kei butts in.

“What?” Shouyou taunts, “Is it really embarrassing? Did he really get his ass kicked—oh!”

He reaches an arm into the crowd and drags out a confused Tobio, brow furrowed as if he had just been in deep thought.

“Kageyama, look! Look at Tsukki!”

“Hinata, idiot! Dumbass Hinata, what’re you—?”

“Look! Tsukishima!”

Tobio swivels his head and scowls at Kei. He stares for a good three seconds before a small smirk quirks his lips.

“Looks like he got his ass handed to him.”

“That’s what I said!” Shouyou exclaims, launching himself up and down, hand firmly clamped around Tobio’s arm. “And they won’t tell what happened either, so all the more reason to believe!”

Kei closes his eyes and sucks in a breath. He is seriously debating over whether he can whack Shouyou upside with his crutch and still survive with Tobio beside him when the scent of strawberries announces another arrival.

“What a scene you guys are making,” Koushi sighs, pinching Shouyou’s cheek.

“Sugawara-san, Tsukishima got beat up—”

“Yes, I know,” he smiles, “rumors have been spreading like wildfire—”

“Rumors?!” Tadashi exclaims, eyes wide. “A-Already?!”

“Yes,” Koushi nods solemnly. “There are a few versions, actually. One of them, which is the one I heard first, I think, goes something like Tsukishima didn’t like Hayate-san hitting on Yamaguchi, so he cornered him in the hallway but got absolutely  _ destroyed _ —”

At this, Hinata bursts out laughing, and Kei tches, turning his nose up.

“B-But that’s not what happened, w-well, I mean, some of it was true, but that’s not exactly what happened,” Tadashi stutters, blushing a delicate shade of pink.

“Oh?” Koushi smiles.

“Yamaguchi,” Kei says warningly. He’s not entirely sure why he wants to keep this to themselves, but he thinks it’s maybe that he’s embarrassed how easily he gets worked up for Tadashi. He was willing to kill a man, for fuck’s sake.

“Sorry, Tsukki,” Tadashi says, flashing him a guilty smile over his shoulder.

“He saved me,” he mumbles, turning back to face Koushi, “Hayate found me when I was walking to the bathroom alone, and he was gonna, I don’t know, he was trying to do, um,  _ something, _ but Tsukki stopped him! He found us, I don’t know how, but they started fighting each other, and so I panicked and got a textbook and, well,” he trails off.

“Bam!” Shouyou supplies, miming hitting Tobio in the gut.

“Yeah,” Tadashi agrees shyly, “Bam.”

Suddenly, an insistent buzzing from Kei’s back pocket drags his attention from the group, and flipping open his phone, he lets out an irate huff before declining the call. Not a few seconds later, the phone starts vibrating again, and pings a few times with new text messages.

Kei sighs, and Tadashi shoots him an inquisitorial glance.

“Sorry, I have to take this,” he sighs, and Tadashi smiles softly.

He takes a few paces away before accepting the call, knowing the owner of the ID wouldn’t give up until he had gotten what he wanted from Kei.

“What do you want, Kuroo-san?” Kei grumbles into the phone.

“So,” Tetsurou starts, somehow sounding twice as smug and sleazy through the crackling line than he usually does, “a little birdie tells me that you and Yamaguchi-kun finally fucked.”

Kei coughs once, face blooming into red, before scowling and shooting back “What the hell? How do you even know this?”

“I told you, a little birdie—”

“Cut the shit, it hasn’t even been a day; since when do you get the front row seat in all of my private affairs?”

Tetsurou sighs over the phone, prompting a rush of static.

“Okay, fine, Kenma told me, and Hinata told him, and Yamaguchi told Hinata. Fair?”

Of course it would have been Shouyou.

“Fucking… fuck you, honestly. Is that the only reason you called me for? To gloat over the fact that we fucked?”

“You say that like it’s nothing,” Tetsurou complains, “be more proud of yourself, Tsukki. You finally got him, the man of your dreams! And you even seduced him too, sly bastard.”

“Since when did I  _ seduce _ him? Stop romanticizing everything;  _ that _ was simply a primal, biologically-induced instinct.”

“Wait, what?” Tetsurou says, sounding genuinely surprised. “Hang on, wait, you don’t know?”

“Know what?” Kei says testily.

“Ha, no fucking way. Uh, well, I hate to break it to you, but you’ve imprinted on Yamaguchi-kun, and I’m sure he’s done the same to you by now.”

“I’ve  _ what _ ?”

Kei’s mind is filled with heavy static, white noise that rings deep in his head.

“Uh, yeah. I could tell from the last time I saw you two. It was kinda obvious, sorry. I mean, I understand if you didn’t know yourself then, but I thought that after he presented it would become so noticeable that you would have recognized it by now.”

Kei’s gut churned as he mulled over the memories of Tadashi’s heat. Had he felt anything different? Had they really imprinted on each other like Tetsurou had said?

“But,” he says, feeling at loss, “even if that is true, what does that have to do with me  _ ‘seducing’ _ him?”

“For a really smart guy, you can be infuriatingly stupid sometimes,” Tetsurou says. “Ever taken a sex-ed class?”

“Shut up, of course,” Kei says, flushing.

“Then you should know that imprinting is the first step to bondage. Pairs that imprint on each other are more suited to be mates than ones who don’t.”

“Okay?”

“Do I really have to spell everything out for you? Jesus christ,” Tetsurou sighs, “Imprinted pairs only wanna fuck with each other, no one else, heats and ruts included. There you go, you seduced him, and he only every will want to fuck you. Congrats.”

Kei splutters, face flaming.

“I—how did you even know that I imprinted on him? How could you possibly—?”

He’s cut off by Tetsurou’s loud cackling.

“Oh man, this is priceless, Tsukki, I could  _ smell _ it, holy shit, he was  _ doused _ in your scent!”

“What? No way, no. Someone would have said something if that were true.”

“Nah, people don’t mess with that shit. You’re thinking of Chibi-chan and Kageyama-kun, right? You’d be surprised; not even they would think of to say something. The unspoken rule, right? Don’t judge who others choose to be their mate.”

Kei’s silent. All of this… Tetsurou was saying it like it was common sense. Was Kei really so blind to the workings of his second nature? Is this something Tetsurou had learned in school? Or was it something he’s learned in time, with his mate, his friends, something Kei was at a disadvantage to because he only ever hung out with Tadashi?

What else had he missed all this time—in fact, what had Tadashi missed? Did he know all this? What if there was something important to his omega gender that he was unable to learn because Kei was selfishly hogging him all to himself? What if—?

“You’re overthinking something, right?” Tetsurou says.

Kei blinks.

“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re probably thinking that you’ve hurt Yamaguchi-kun in some way, right?”

Kei’s silent. Tetsurou’s too close for comfort.

“Or maybe you’re thinking that you’ve forced him into… whatever you two have going on now.”

Kei’s gut lurches. He hadn’t thought of that, but hadn’t he? He’d imprinted first, right? Did that speed up Tadashi’s presentation, forcing the other to imprint on Kei as well? He doesn’t know what’s right, what had really happened, he’s confused and conflicted and—

“He likes you, Tsukishima,” Tetsurou says gently. “And perhaps this goes even  _ beyond _ like.”

“I—” Kei says, choking, stunned and wholly embarrassed, “I don’t—”

“You’ll see,” Tetsurou says, “You’ll know if he loves you. Once you’ve imprinted, it’ll be almost instinctual. You know how they’re feeling, and vice-versa. You know the answer already, I think.”

“I,” says Kei, swallowing thickly. Images flashed behind his eyelids. He had kissed Tadashi in the heat of the moment, after his fight with Hayate; he had  _ kissed _ him, but had Tadashi kissed back? Was Tadashi complying out of romantic love? Or just because Kei was his precious best friend? Wait, was Tadashi even complying? Or was he simply not resisting? 

Everything was so blurry now; what had Kei done?

“What if I’m wrong? I don’t—I’m always wrong, I always make mistakes—”

“You doubt yourself too much,” Tetsurous says. “You always overthink, and about everything. It’s something I’ve always noticed about you, but you’re usually right anyways, in the end. Have more confidence in yourself, Tsukki.”

Kei blinks, flustered. He’s not used to this, the kind side of Tetsurou. He’s not really transparent with him, not really with anyone; he’s unused to this feeling of vulnerability. 

“I’m scared,” he says, so quietly he’s not even sure Tetsurou heard over the crackling line.

“It’s okay to be scared,” says Tetsurou softly, “but it’s another to be cowardly. Don’t be that, Tsukishima. Don’t be a coward.”

_ “That’s just coward’s play. Asshole. _ ” reverberates in Kei’s mind, and he can almost feel Tobio’s scowl behind the words.

Kei lets a few seconds of silence hang between them before ending the call. He’s still in deep thought when Tadashi bounds up to him and offers a hand, pulling Kei to his feet with little pinpricks of stars in his eyes. If he notices Kei is a little distracted, he says nothing, and instead presses his forehead to Kei’s shoulder as they walk (see: Tadashi helps Kei hobble) home, birdsong bright for a late spring afternoon, breeze gentle.

  
  


It’s quiet in Kei’s room as he and Tadashi sprawl together on his bed, Kei immersed in a book and Tadashi watching a documentary on his phone. It’s not awkward, per-se; it’s actually quite comfortable, and Kei is at peace watching the blue light reflect off of Tadashi’s glazed eyes, that and the dark sky a testimony to his drowsiness. He would roll over and kiss his forehead, if he could, but his splint and self-doubt hold him back, and so he settles with stealing glances at him, like a fugitive.

They’re close, but not close enough: their arms are pressed against each other, but Kei longs to pull Tadashi into him until the other is laying on his chest, the scent of his strawberry shampoo rubbing off onto Kei’s shirt. 

“Tsukki?”

Kei blinks, flustered. He hadn’t even realized that he was staring, Tadashi’s soft hazel eyes peering into his own.

“What?” he replies, trying to preserve some sense of normalcy.

“Tsukki, are you okay? Answer me, honestly.”

“I—” Kei begins, but Tadashi cuts him off.

“Of course you’re not, but you’ll say you are. Hm, why did I even bother asking?”

“Yamaguchi,” Kei protests weakly.

“Tsukki, I know you too well,” the other laughs, pushing himself up on his forearms to face Kei, mouth curved upwards.

“I know you want to say something, but you can’t; you’re doubting yourself again, right?”

“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Tsukki is the stupidest idiot alive,” Tadashi muses, ignoring Kei’s squawk of indignation.

“Since you can’t say it, I’ll say it for you,” he says, affection glimmering in the depths of his dark irises. “Tsukki, I like you.”

And everything is silent.

It’s the soundless sort of quiet, unruffled and still, where you’re left with nothing but the faint ringing in your ears, time irrelevant in this sphere. It’s not peaceful by any means; it’s the moment of silent panic before the downfall; the pinnacle of epitome before ruin. Kei can only breathe as Tadashi’s words wash over him, he’s sinking in the arctic sea, lips numb and body a heavy weight, immobile.

But then there’s a warmth in his chest, and it spreads to his arms and legs, and when he feels his face there’s something hot running down across it, and Tadashi stares back at him, his own tears leaking from his eyes, wobbly smile plastered on his flushed cheeks.

“Stupid, stupid Tsukki,” he sobs, wiping at tears as they pour down his cheeks, “I told you, I told you!”

Kei’s in shock; he can’t think, can’t process what’s happening.

“You…” he chokes, “you  _ like _ me?”

“Tsukki, I’ve liked you for forever,” Tadashi sniffles into his palms, scent leaking from him. But it’s not the smell of an omega distressed; it’s perfumed relief, a release of anxiety; it’s pure, unadulterated joy.

“Forever?” Kei repeats breathlessly, and Tadashi nods, shoulders shaking.

“I—Yamaguchi,  _ Tadashi, _ I’ve… me too, forever, I—”

“Tsukki, I know,” he says, “I know how you feel, oh, Tsukki, and I thought  _ I _ was being obvious!”

Kei stares at him, mouth agape.

“It was so funny,” Tadashi laughs wetly, “I really liked it when you got jealous over me, even when I was unpresented. I’ve always wanted to say something, but I… I got scared. What if I presented as an alpha? Would Tsukki still like me then?”

“Of course,” Kei answered immediately, blinking tears from his eyes, “I wouldn’t have given a damn about what you had presented as; you are the same to me, alpha, beta, or omega. It’s  _ you _ who I’m in love with, not your second gender.”

And then he realized what he had said.

“I—”

He’s yanked down, lips captured by Tadashi before he can finish his statement, their tears mixing at the crevice of their pressed-up cheeks. Kei’s not sure how long has passed when Tadashi finally pulls back, eyes brighter than he’s ever seen them.

“Tsukki, I love—no,  _ Kei, _ I love you, so, so much. I’ve been in love with you my whole life.”

Kei flushes bright red at this, and Tadashi laughs blithely, sound free and unburdened.

“I… love you more than anything,” Kei confesses quietly.

“More than Akiteru-san?” Tadashi teases, and Kei scoffs.

“Not like that, you know. Not in  _ that _ way.”

“I know, Tsukki,” Tadashi giggles, and Kei smiles, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, and then his temple.

Whatever he’s about to say next is cut off by a huge yawn, and Tadashi blushes profusely as Kei laughs at him.

“Okay, seems like someone’s all tired out from confessing to the love of their life,” Kei teases, and Tadashi whines.

“Okay, now that’s just embarrassing, when you put it like that,” Tadashi says, pressing his fingers over his eyes.

“Now, now, you can’t get rid of me so easily,” Kei laughs, “I’ll promise I’ll still give you kisses even when we’re so old all the teeth have rotted from our mouths.”

“Tsukki!” Tadashi shrieks, “Ew!”

Tadashi yelps as Kei swoops down to press a kiss to his eyelid, then his brow bone, and to his jaw and neck and collarbone, and he’s laughing, they’re laughing between kisses and as much as Tadashi denies it, Kei can still tell that he’s secretly pleased.

And when they finally turn off the lights, Tadashi pillows his head in Kei’s chest, and Kei wraps both arms around his lanky frame, and they drift off, like the feathered wings of a kite, riding the soft breeze higher and higher until the cerulean sky bleeds to a soft indigo, stars just beyond their reach and pale moon glistening, fixed in the center of the heavens by some noble, divine hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so, so much for reading and sticking around with me until the very end! this is my longest complete fic, and i feel a bit sad about letting it go, but i'm also glad that i finished it! i guess the title needs a bit of explaining as well; it was meant to paint a mental image of kei's journey! "empyrean" is a position in the highest heaven (which would be his realization of feelings and bondage with tadashi), the the "blazing torches," in my mind, are what lines the stairway to this place as kei struggles in his journey. i hope this makes sense, and once again, thank you so much for reading! <3


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